Naruto's happyness
by RaiderXV
Summary: Naruto is taken in by the Hyuga but later asked to leave. How will this affect Naruto? How will this affect Naruto's happiness? NaruHina, SasuSaku, Others as they become evident.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or team 8, S'TaKar owns that one. While there are similarities between these stories they are not the same. I will get into the similarities in later chapters, but please read 'Team 8' it is a good read.

A/N: I am editing this story from the beginning so that it is a better read. It was my first fan fiction story. Going back over the story I have to agree with some of the readers that my writing early on needed help. What do you expect for a first time writer? Some of the comments were not very nice but most were actually helpful in helping me fix my writing. I know I still need work but hey who doesn't.

Now on to the story…

Chapter 1 – Prologue – The year of the Kyuubi…

A great beast, a demon ravaged the lands. With a simple flick of its tail it could crush mountains or cause tsunamis. This beast was referred to as the Kyuubi no Yoko, it was also better known as the nine-tailed demon-fox. It had destroyed several villages in its rampage of destruction and now it was headed towards Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. Shinobi of this proud village rose to oppose this force of nature as best they could.

"Keep it away from the village until the Hokage can arrive." One of shinobi yelled as several were driven back by the onslaught of the beast that appeared to be fueled by rage. "We must hold until the Hokage arrives!" Another shinobi exclaimed. As the Kyuubi roared it sent trees hurtling towards the small group of men, some were killed instantly. Others were saved by the sound of a man yelling. "Hakkesho Kaiten!" A tree was shattered against a wall of chakra.

"Thank you Lord Hyuga". Hiashi Hyuuga just nodded and swept his arms forward for the others to continue the attack on the Kyuubi as best as he could.

Just then a call rang out "Lord Hokage has arrived!"

A man appeared ridding upon the head of a gigantic toad with a scar on its left eye. The blond man had his hands across his chest. "Leave now and do not come any closer great Kyuubi. I do not wish you any harm Kyuubi." The Kyubi looked at the man with anger in its eyes and growled angrily. The demon stalked closer as the other ninjas retreated. Three shinobi were not part of the group that were in retreat. "Promise me that he will be thought of as a hero, and a savior of the village! I am sorry my friends, let not our sacrifice go in vain! He will become a great asset to this village. Make sure he makes it back to Kushina." " Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, yelled to the others below on the ground with tears streamed down his face. "I am sorry my son." Minato then looked at his friends, specifically at Hiashi. "Is the deal still on my old friend? I did hear that you are expecting a girl!"

Hiashi nodded and smirked at the question. "It is our hope that they will be happy together my friend you can be assured of that. You have my word that I will do everything I can for both Naruto and Kushina!"

An elderly ninja bowed his head and stated. "You have my promise my friend. I will do what I can to make his life as bearable as possible." Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stated quietly.

Minato moved his hands through a series of hand signs and then exclaimed. "Forbidden Art: Death Reaper Seal!" A bright flash was seen and the Kyuubi's body appeared to no longer there. Minato collapsed on the toads back. Both men on the ground jumped up and grabbed him, taking him carefully down to the ground. "Thank Gamabunta for all your help."Minato exclaimed with labored breath. Gamabunta nodded his head and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Both men kneeled over their dying Hokage. "I hope the village will not hate him, for this was all I could do to save them and that is why I put my life on the line and that of my family. I did it so that the village would be safe. That is what the Hokage is supposed to do, right?" Minato asked as he smiled and touched the cheek of a blond child held by Sarutobi. The other men only nodded as they saw the life drain from their friend.

"We will do what we can for him." Sarutobi whispered under his breath. A kunoichi appeared and took the crying blond baby from Sarutobi. She wrapped the boy in a swaddle a seal evident on the boy's stomach as she covered him and tried to ease his crying. "Now bring Naruto and we will head back to the village.

--

In a cave not far away from the village there are two figures. "So you are not dead?"

"No but the fight was nearly as taxing as the one with the Shodai. Now get rid of the other one as there is no way I can control it."

"As you wish my Leader. I even brought two to help me with sealing it." A man with sickly white skin replied as both men began to laugh. They stood over the body of a lavender colored fox that was as big as a horse, the sickly looking man removed a fox statue from his pouch and performed several hand signs, the two bound men died as the fox disappeared and the statue began to glow. "It is done, I am glad I left that pathetic village a while ago. So what do I do with this?"He asked holding the statue as the glow started to fade.

"Go make some money off it if you like I don't care. Go and gain power and help me crush the village at a later date. Or if you think you can do it yourself, then do it." Both men laugh maniacally.

--

Two days later in the village council chambers. The same argument had continued while the blonde baby is tended to in the corner.

"I say he should die, that would save the village. I call for his death!" Fugaku Uchiha exclaimed slamming his fist on the table. This caused Naruto to wake and start to cry.

"That is so typical of an Uchiha, calling for the death of an innocent! I for one will not stand for it!" Hiashi Hyuga yelled his reply.

"I agree that calling for his death is unreasonable, we should wait and see how he turns out. As an orphan we are compelled to save his life even if he carries the beast within him." Shikaku Nara Proclaimed in an even tone.

"He saved and is saving us from the wrath of the beast, and you would repay him and the memory of our great Fourth Hokage with a murder of a child?" Choza Akamichi asked.

"No matter what the origin or what they contain. All life must be given a chance. Evil children rise from good parents. This child could become a great person even with that great evil sealed inside of it." Tsume Inazuka proclaimed.

"He is a demon, he is no longer human. He is a jinchuuriki. He will not be respected nor accepted in this village." Baika Haruno exclaimed.

"He is abomination, and must be destroyed." Fugaku exclaimed angrily in agreement with Baika.

"You would dishonor the last wish of your Hokage. We also know about the link between the Uchiha and the Kyuubi. So if Naruto dies then so will both of your sons, Uchiha." Hiashi retorted.

"You would dare compare that things value to the value of Uchiha children? How dare you!" Fugaku yelled.

"Gentlemen, please…" Sarutobi interrupts, "Let's not have a civil war between the great clans of Konoha. I am asking what the council will advise me on doing with the boy. The fourth said that he, the boy, should be seen as a hero. And killing a hero or a child in cold blood would not a proper reward for someone so young, or any hero for that matter. I would say that you are the monsters for calling for his death."

Sarutobi's tone became grim. "I assure you that no one is going to kill him or you and your clan will be pay dearly. As Hokage I proclaim this. Now, no one shall talk about the boy being the Kyuubi container or about what truly happened to any of the younger generation. Further more you are now forbidden by law to speak of it. If you are talking to someone who has prior knowledge of this, or the boy is told by the standing Hokage and then wishes to tell another it will be allowed. The only exceptions to this are Naruto and the standing Hokage. Do I make myself clear? Breaking this law will be punishable by death as it is now an 'S' ranked secret for the village."

He scanned the room and got all nods, most were grudging nods, but some were happier such as Hiashi, the Nara, and Akamichi members. "Now I am sorry to report that the boy's mother is no longer with us, we need to figure out what we are to do with him. We have several options. He could be put up in one of the great houses."

There were several gaps, "Or we can have him put up in one of the orphanages. If a clan will not take him, let us call him by his name, Naruto Uzumaki. Also because you are such a vocal proponent of killing Naruto, the Uchiha's are excluded from taking him in. Will we have to send him the one of the orphanages?"

The Uchiha representative stood up "Are you insinuating that we would murder that thing after taking him in? Like we would ever take it such an abomination."

Sarutobi started to chuckle, "Well yes, I think I am. I will allow the Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Aburame and Inuzuka clans discuss this. As the other do not seem to want Naruto."

"Why do keep calling that, that thing by a name? It is a monster and will grow up to destroy the village. I am leaving!" The Uchiha yelled.

"That is the first good news we have had in the last few days." Hiashi exclaimed, to a chorus of laughter.

After ten minutes the chatter from the clan heads and the civilian council members at the table, they finally begin to settled down, especially after the Haruno representative left in a huff. She left after having a bitter argument over Naruto over how he should be raised. Haruno wanted Naruto left on the streets so that he would have to fend for himself while the Inuzuka representative wanted Naruto raised in a loving home so that he could reach his full potential.

Sarutobi looked at the group questioningly "So have you made a decision?"

Hiashi replies, "Yes, Sandaime, we have. Most of the families will have interaction with Naruto, the Hyuga's will care for and assure the safety of the boy, the Nara will work with him on his mind, the Akamichi will work on his taijutsu. Some of the others have agreed to help but do not want to be known that they are helping. The Aburame's want to help also, they are not sure how they can help him but they will. And no, they will not offer him to their insect colonies to become a host. Yes, I know my wife is expecting but it will be good to have another face in the house. I am sure she will be happy to help care for Naruto."

"I see, very well then." Sarutobi acknowledged. "So now that it has been decided, as a side note if the boy wishes to become a shinobi it will be allowed. Again I must tell you that the people who do not know about what happened to the boy should not know. This is for his protection and that of the village. Again I have made all information about him an S-class secret. Are there any objections?" Sarutobi asked and there were none.

A couple months later on the Hyuga estate there was the birth of a baby girl and a happy times had come to the head family of the Hyuuga clan.

"Well my darling wife. What shall we name her?" Hiashi looked proudly upon his wife and daughter.

"Hinata sounds good don't you agree Hiashi?" His wife said as she as she cradled a giggling baby in her arms. Hiashi nodded as this was the proudest moment in his life, the second was bringing Naruto into the household whom he was holding. "Will we honor our agreement? And we did have a girl."

Hiashi nodded, "Well of course we will, but we will have to make sure he understands that he is a guest not a true member of the family for this to work. It could cause problems though, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Several of the eyes in the Hyuuga household were not so happy as the Hiashi and his wife's. Others were planning to remove the taint from the Hyuuga household. The demon would either be killed or sent away.

Naruto's and Hinata's first year was a happy one as they did not leave Hinata's mothers side. Naruto was walking, actually running at eight months. Hinata started to walk around nine months with the help of Naruto of course.

--

A/N: I added some parts to the story from the original so that the story would flush out a little better. As you can tell Naruto is taken in by the Hyuuga head family. The Uchiha do not like Naruto but when did they? If you comment on this revised chapter please make them constructive. Tirades are funny only a few times. I do like critiques and might use them to fix something but I know sometimes those who criticize need help themselves. I once had a person tell me my spelling was terrible, but failed to be able to spell most of their comment correctly. Please let me know where I screw up I will try to fix it. As for ideas send them if you like, but this early in the story it will not help as I have already set most of the plots into motion. I have published 36 chapters of this story so far. Grammar help is always appreciated. Thanks for listening to my rants and raves. I know this story has had a limited audience but for those that have stayed 'Thank you.' Now to try to fix the monstrosity that is chapter 2, less than 1000 words and grammar for Hades. I will try to double the length of that chapter if I can.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2 - Sealing

About a year and three months after Naruto was born there was a meeting between the sickly looking man and the Raikage. "This is an example of how you can seal a demon into an object, but you can of course seal it into a person, like they did the nine-tailed fox in Konoha. With this knowledge you can created a weapon for your village. Here is the scroll that has information on how you might be able to deal with your, shall we say problems. But the caster must give up his life for it to work and you will need a newborn infant to seal the beast in. The formula is not complete as I was not able to get all the information from Konoha, but I am sure you can finish it. Also here is another scroll that will release the demon that is sealed into this statue into a body so you can have yet another demon vessel." The thin sickly long haired man explained holding a statue of a fox.

"So Orochimaru, what is the cost of this?" The Raikage asked.

"Only help in financing a village for me to control, of course we would be allies." Orochimaru answered.

"That sounds reasonable." The Raikage replied as they both laughed.

--

Six months later in the country of Lightning an eight tailed dragon is moving thru the country side. Several mist ninja raced towards it with a baby being held by one of the shinobi. One of the shinobi started to mutter something and the dragon disappears in a flash of light. The man collapses as a seal appears on the stomach of the baby boy and the baby began to cry. "Take him to the cell with the old man." The lead shinobi orders the kunoichi holding the baby. "At least the old man was able to help finish the seal information so it was successful this time." The group headed back to Kumo where the baby was put into a cell with an elderly man for him to make the child into a weapon.

They arrived and are greeted by the Raikage at the gates of the village. "Was the sealing a success?" The Raikage asked as the men nod and the kunoichi continued on to the prison. "Good, you followed my orders that he be put with the old man and we shall see if he will become a good weapon. Now get out of my sight."

The kunoichi entered the cell and handed the child to a cell to an elderly man in the cell. "Take care of him and teach him what you know, the Raikage wants him to become a good weapon that we can use at a later date. We will be by later with some food for you and that creature." The old man smiles at the child but then frowns at the kunoichi and the guards.

"I will do as you ask, I will teach the boy, but I cannot guarantee he will become a weapon. I will raise him and teach him what I can. The chakra seal will be a hindrance to my teachings, could you please remove them?" The old man asked.

"No we need to make sure that thing does not get loose." The woman answered.

--

A year and a few months later a giant two-tailed cat is destroying the country side in the Lightning country. A new group of lightning shinobi carrying a baby approached the cat. One of shinobi pulls out a scroll and began to read it. A flash of light appears and the cat is gone as a seal appears on the baby held by another ninja. The man reading the scroll collapses. The other shinobi gather their dead comrade and head back to Kumo with the child.

Arriving in Kumo they head to the Tower of the Raikage. "Better this time?" The Raikage asks. The men nod their head and present the baby to the Raikage. "Take it to my wife so that she can take care of it. We will try to learn from our mistakes as the other seems to not be able to take our training. We will send this one to school and see if she turns out differently. Tell all your men that she is to be treated more kindly than the boy has been. Do I make myself clear?" The men nod and quickly leave the Raikage's office.

--

In the private quarters of the Raikage's wife a shinobi presents the baby to her. "What am I supposed to do with this brat? Does he want to raise it as one of his own?"

The female shinobi nodded. "Yes my lady, he does. Those were his orders also we were to instruct it on how to be a proper member of society. And it is eventually be to become a shinobi. This is his weapons program as we will be gaining more. I am told that in a year's time we may have another guest."

"Great more beasts, just what we need. Well take care of her she will be shown the courtesies of being a member of the Raikage's family." The Raikage's wife exclaimed with a scowl.

--

In a dark dirty cell an old man is playing ball with a young boy. "Are you having fun Shinbo?" The old man asks.

"Uhuh, yeds dada… more ball…" Shinbo happily replies.

The old man smiles and rolls the ball to the boy. "I will teach you how to read and how to do seals. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Yeah, dada… fun… more ball…" Shinbo replies.

--

Naruto and Hinata had their first play time outside of the Hyuuga compound. They traveled with Hinata's mother and several guards to the Nara estate. Naruto enjoyed playing with Shikamaru and the deer that seemed to be everywhere on the Nara estate. Hinata also enjoyed playing with the deer but mostly enjoyed spending time with her best friend Naruto.

The Nara were surprised by the energy that Naruto seemed exude, it was infectious. Naruto with each visit began to believe that Shikamaru's mother was scary, but nice. Shikamaru could only agree.

The next day Naruto and Hinata both got to play with the Inuzuka dogs and meet the youngest child Kiba. Naruto and Kiba seemed to get along like arguing brothers whenever Naruto and Hinata came over. Hinata would just giggle at their antics.

Naruto never understood his visits to the Yamanaka residence other than he got to learn about plants. Hinata enjoyed these visits too. She was able to spend time with Ino and thus they became good friends. Inoichi would take Naruto aside for a couple hours then return and talk to Hinata's mother. It was always hushed whispers and that something was still asleep. Naruto never understood what they were talking about but he enjoyed the attention Inoichi would give him.

Trips to the Akamichi were interesting to say the best Naruto and Hinata did their best to stay out from under foot of the family of large shinobi. Choji and Naruto became fast friends as they would talk about what foods they liked. Hinata found these trips somewhat boring as there were few girls for her to play with and most were interested in food not girl things like dolls or clothes.

--

A/N: I hope you like the revised chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Pain

About six months later in the village of Konoha is having a celebration and there are foreign shinobi, walking down the street accepting the accolades of the crowd, who have heard that the land of lighting and fire are now at peace. The head of the lightning village is greeted with much fanfare. 

Elsewhere in town two small boys one with blond hair the other with black are being chased by several villagers. "Why is that you are always chased Naruto? It's like you have a sign pasted on your back saying 'I am here beat me.'" The Nara child complained.

"I don't know. Why you asking me? I am getting tired. Only a little farther then we will reach a safe place." Suddenly Naruto stopped and Shikamaru ran into him. "We are in trouble now. Run Shika, I will stop them from hurting you." Naruto said as he raised his arms in a defensive manner. The way was blocked by more angry villagers with sticks. They started to beat him calling him 'demon'. Shikamaru attempted to interfere only to be hit by a couple villagers knocking him unconscious. After about ten minutes of beating they are rescued.

"Hurry up and disable all of them. Take these two the hospital and notify the Hokage. Where are his guards? We are going to catch hell for this." A fox masked man comments. "Bring the villagers to Ibiki so we can figure out why they attacked him. Oh great, not only are the Hyuga going to be mad the Nara will be too. This is not going to be a good day." The ANBU man just shook his head.

"They are both barely breathing and bleeding I am taking them now." An owl masked ANBU agent said as he picked up both boys. 

"Go, go! We can clean up here." The fox masked ordered. The owl masked agent jumped to the roof tops and headed to the hospital. "This is a mess. We have to deal with security around the kid and also deal with having lightning ninja in town. I hope the day doesn't get any worse."

Elsewhere the Hyugas are having a meeting. "Father she looks pretty." A young Neji says to his father Hizashi as he looks at Hinata. He smiles at his son patting his head. 

"It is Hinata's third birthday. I think it is time to take Neji under my wing." Hiashi comments to his brother.

"Yes it time I guess. And congratulations on your third birthday Lady Hinata." Hizashi replies as Hinata moves behind her father's leg shyly. 

Later that day Hinata is at Naruto's bedside crying as he is lying covered in bandages. Hiashi is looking very mad "What happened? He was supposed to have ANBU protection coming home from the Nara house today. How could this happen?"

A man in an owl mask replies, "an Uchiha was assigned to guard him, he has been brought up on charges and speaking to Ibiki right now as are the villagers that did this too him. They also beat the Nara child but not as badly, as he appeared to be protecting him. The Uchihas want their man back but the Nara are forcing the issue. Am I to assume that you are also going to force the issue?" Hiashi nods. 

"With the head of the land of Lightning here how could they want to hurt him? Him, of all people? It isn't even the anniversary of the attack." Hiashi trails off. 

"I am sorry Lord Hiashi, I know your clan had personal business today and thus were relying on ANBU to deal with this. I am sorry we let you down. It will not happen again as the man in charge of the rotations was also an Uchiha, he is also talking to Ibiki." A smirk crossed Hiashi's face then a frown. "I know the Uchihas have it in for him but I did not know the lengths they would go to hurt or kill him. Again I am sorry but I must report to the Hokage. But the good news is that he is well enough to go home with you later this afternoon." The last statement was louder than the rest and was heard by a crying young girl, who stopped crying and cheered up some. 

Later that evening a couple of figures were sneaking onto the Hyuga estate. They snuck into Hinata's bedchamber, pulled out a small statue of a fox and the pulling up her shirt to reveal her stomach. They then cast a genjutsu on her to sleep more deeply. They painted a seal on her stomach and one started to chant. The statue started to glow, and a light moved from the statue to the young girl. "It is done" said one of the men to the other. As the other picked Hinata up, a shuffling was heard outside the door, and a shadow of a child came through the wall. The first threw a kunai through the wall and heard a thud of a hit on the small figure, 

"OW! That hurt! What is going on in Hinata's room?" a young boy's voice called out as he opened the door. Two more kunai hit the bandaged boy who was now bleeding from the first hit. He threw the kunai that had hit him at one of the intruders, hitting him squarely in the throat. The dying ninja just fell to the floor as the other hit Naruto as he passed him and started to run off. A few moments later Hiashi caught the intruder who was stealing his daughter and activated his Byakugan, then in one move slammed his hand over the heart of the intruder destroying his heart, killing the man instantly. He recovered his daughter as the man fell to the ground. He then hurried in as he had heard Naruto's screams. He found him in a pool of blood. He immediately called for assistance, where several guard showed up quickly. They rushed both Naruto and Hinata to the hospital. 

At the hospital several of the doctors were in need of help from an infuriated Hiashi Hyuga who would attack any doctor who would not aid Naruto. Helping Hinata was not a problem as she was an heir to the Hyuga family, but Naruto was the demon. Hiashi would not have it, he wanted the boy treated. 

Finally a few nurses got together along with a single doctor and treated the Naruto. They said that he should be dead but was not, and that they would treat him. It took several days before either of them would wake up, so as a safety precaution Hiashi had them put into the same room together, as he had business to deal with. The intruder was the head of the lightning village. And there was still the burned scroll and the broken fox statue to deal with. Adding to that his wife was not in the best of health. 

Hinata woke up first but did not feel well. She spent the first day awake watching Naruto just breathe, this seemed to relax her as she was not used to being in the hospital as a patient. He woke up the next morning as she watched him. He woke up with a start, startling Hinata. "Hey leave Hinata alone, ouch! Wait I was hit by kunai. Where am I?" Hinata blushed and laughed at Naruto's confusion but was worried about his saying someone had attacked him and her both. But felt very pleased that he tried to defend her. He seemed to realize where he was. "Hey am I back in this place again. Dang I wish I wouldn't have to keep coming here." Then he noticed Hinata giggling "you're here too?" He looked very sad and troubled, especially for a three year old. "Sorry…" Hinata just giggled. She felt safe when he was near. 

The nurse soon arrived and saw that Naruto was sitting up. "Well young man. How does it feel to be a hero?" He brightened at that comment. She then looked at Hinata. "He saved you from being kidnapped. And it almost cost him his life." Hinata gasped than passed out. The nurse laughed. 

Naruto looked at her questioningly. "Huh? You mean I saved Hinata?" A huge grin crossed his face. "But what do you mean almost cost my life?" His mood seemed to change to worry.

She smiled, "Well, son, you nearly died." Color drained from Naruto's face. "After the beating you took yesterday, you got yourself stuck by three kunai. All were well placed to bleed you to death. Good thing you heal very quickly and you were brought here by Lord Hiashi quickly after the incident."

The door opens again this time it is Lord Hiashi, Shikaku Nara, and Choza Akimichi. They entered the room smiling, "well Naruto, how are you feeling? Are you ready to marry Hinata? Because of you saving her, you are now in charge of protecting her. And I cannot think of a better way to protect her than as her husband." Again the color left Naruto's face as Hiashi spoke those words with a huge smile on his face. He was partially joking and partially because of a certain agreement. Hiashi laughed at Naruto was trying to mouth the word marry.

"Stop teasing the boy, it is tiresome." Shikaku commented with a smile as color returned to Naruto's face. Naruto did not like many adults as most were mean to him. Hiashi was like a father, but Hinata was his best friend and he wanted it to stay that way always.

They were visited by Shikamaru Nara the next day as he was finally recovering from his injuries from helping defend Naruto from the villager "Man you are nothing but trouble Naruto." Laughing at his comment, "If they were after you why they hurt me too?" Naruto could only just shake his head. "But, you hero now. I like being friends with hero." 

On the other side of town in the Uchiha complex, "Hiashi is going to die and we can be happy when the Hyuga's push the boy out and we can finally rid the village of that demon menace. We will then deal with the stragglers that are attempting to leave the clan so that the Uchiha line will remain pure. We can also push for an arranged marriage with the Hyuga to increase the potency of both bloodlines."

"But Hiashi will not have this he will fight it and not let her go so easily." An Uchiha elder commented. "With Hiashi out of the way I am sure we can arrange it. Which would be better in your opinion, Itachi or Sasuke?"

"Sasuke would be the better age match and he is more malleable as he will do what he is told and but he is not as skilled as Itachi." Fugaku commented. "But that is tertiary to destroying the danger to the village, the demon child must die."

Hinata and Naruto were let out of the hospital a few days later. A Hyuga escort was there to take them to the compound as Hiashi was busy dealing with his brother choosing to die for his brother over the kidnapping incident. Neji started to grow cold to both Naruto and Hinata. 

Over the next couple year's incident and accidents dealing with Naruto continue to increase. Naruto takes Hiashi's comments to heart and on several occasions defends Hinata from other children bulling her. He also defends others as they are picked on by bullies earning him a reputation as a troublemaker. But the guards come to like Naruto as he is making their jobs somewhat easier. He is also attacked on more occasions. The ANBU squad is kept busy, but they make sure that no Uchiha is put in any place where they can come close to Naruto. 

--------

Next...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Again Naruto is not mine.

I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 4 - Change

A little more than two years later Hiashi is in his study his tears seemed to not end. His beloved wife died giving birth to their second daughter, now his brother and his wife were gone. The clan elders were pushing him to send Naruto away, and they wanted Hinata to prove herself as a Hyuga. He has gone numb not being able to face them anymore and argue with them on all these subjects. He is dreading this meeting with the elders, they have a lot of leverage but the worst thing is that he does not have the will to fight. 'Why so soon after her death do they push me? I know some do not like Naruto but most of those not on the council enjoy Naruto being around. They find him a bundle of joy and do not want him to leave. I am guessing that it is those who do not like change.'

An hour later he was in the Hyuga clan council chamber. "Hiashi, you will send Naruto away, he is distracting Hinata from becoming stronger. We cannot have our next leader be weak." All Hiashi could do is just nod as he started to seal his emotions inside of him. "Also you will forbid him from seeing her. This is the best for the clan. I know he has defended her a few times." Referring to the abduction and a few other incidents where Naruto had either saved or defended Hinata from other children. "He must leave. We know it will be hard on him, but it will make them both stronger in the end."

An hour later, Hiashi is standing in front of Naruto and Hinata. "Hinata, you will go to your room until supper. Naruto wait here. We have some things to discuss." Hinata left not knowing what was going on, but complied with her father's wishes. "Naruto, you are here by ordered to leave the Hyuga compound and not to return until you are told you can return. You are also here by forbidden to talk or approach Hinata unless you go to school together. Have I made myself clear?"

Naruto shoulders slumped like the weight of the world had just been press down upon him. All he could do is nod as tears rolled down his face. He tried to speak but could not. His whole world had just been ripped out from under him, added to that the death of Lady Hyuga who Naruto looked up to like a mother died only a few weeks ago. He knew it was taking its toll on Hiashi and Hinata. 'Why are they kicking me out?' He could not understand.

Hiashi knelt down to look Naruto in the eyes. "This is not because I hate you or even dislike you, there are other things involved in this. I will tell you later about them. Until then be safe and try to be happy. I know this hurts but there is nothing I can do at the moment." A couple men appeared out of a tree wearing animal masks. "These men will escort you to the Hokage. He has set up a residence for you so that you can live on your own." Turning away not able to face the boy as it would break him into pieces. "Be strong, I know you want to be Hokage, make that your dream. If not find a dream and seek it out. Now go we will send your stuff to you." Hiashi walked back into the compound slamming shut the door and the window to his emotions.

Naruto walked up to the two men with animal masks and followed them. One talked to Naruto, "Cheer up. Things are different but they will improve." With that they walked silently, other than the constant sobs of Naruto, to the Hokage's tower.

At the tower, Naruto went to the Hokage's office. There he saw Sarutobi looking over documents not apparently noticing that Naruto and his escort had arrived. Naruto continued to cry as he had lost everything, his best friend, a man who he thought of like a father, the woman he thought of like a mother had died only recently. Nothing made sense. 'How am I to survive alone and with no one? Did Hiashi hate me? No, he said he did not. But then why is he sending me away? What did I do wrong?'

Sarutobi finished the document he was working on and waved the escort away and moved over to Naruto and knelt down and gave him a big hug. This startled Naruto as he was deep in thought about what he was to do. "Naruto, I know this is all confusing. And there is not much I can say. I am giving you an apartment to live in. You will be able to come and go as you please. Also for the next couple years I am going to have a Chunin come and stop by every few days to check on you and to teach you. This is to make sure you settle in to your new place and are able to survive."

"When you are eight I will let you enter the ninja academy. I will also come by occasionally as my work here permits. It is either this or an orphanage. I hope you understand that Hiashi did what he had to do. We can discuss this when you are older if you like. These men will escort you to your new home. Good luck. I expect great things from you Naruto." He hugged Naruto again and the escorts reappeared and walked him to a second story one bedroom apartment. It had a small kitchen, a refrigerator, a small couch, a small bathroom with shower, and in the bedroom there was a bed and a dresser. There was a note on the top of the dresser. The note read 'Naruto, you will be given certain amount of money each month for food and clothing. Please use it sparingly. Hokage.'

The escort left him with a key to the apartment and told him to expect a visitor in the morning. Naruto went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed and cried himself to sleep.

At the Hyuga compound Hinata asked where Naruto was. "He has been asked to leave. He has also been asked to not bother you anymore." An elder answered the elder smiled with the last statement. This news devastated Hinata. She had lost her best friend and he had been told to not talk to her. Feeling hurt and confused she ran as fast as she could to her room closing the door. She then proceeded to cried herself to sleep. 'Why do they want you to go? Where are you?'

The next day Naruto did not feel like getting up even when there was a knock at the door. He just lay on the bed not wanting to do anything not even think. He heard the door open and someone walk in. "Naruto? Are you here?" Asked a sweet voice. "Naruto are you here?" The voice seemed to become panicked. "Naruto are you here? Please Naruto be alright!" A woman ran into the bedroom with a look of terror in her jade green eyes. All Naruto could do was stare at her eyes. Seeing Naruto she put her hands on her chest. "Naruto, there you are. You had me scared. My Name is Keiko. I am very pleased to meet you." She bowed to Naruto. "I have been appointed your temporary guardian. I will also be instructing you on several subjects. These will include basic shinobi training, housekeeping, and finances. Do you have any questions?"

Naruto dumbfounded just shook his head no. "Ok Naruto, let's get you unpacked." She said with a chipper voice. The rest of the day was spent unpacking the few boxes that had come from his room at the Hyuga compound. They then went into town to get some more supplies. She later showed him how to cook and safety with the stove. "You should not be out without escort at nights. Also it would be better for you to eat here at home." This helped Naruto over some of his sadness about the whole Hyuga issue. She left late that night "I will see you in a couple days. Let me know if you need anything until then, just stop by the Hokage's office, they know how to contact me. Good bye Naruto and good night."

That night he heard his door open and some voices but he was groggy and did not realize that someone had entered his apartment and meant to do him harm. All he heard was "kill the demon." Then there was only blackness. He woke up at the hospital. Keiko and the Hokage were also in the room whispering something he was only able to catch parts of what was said. "He forgot what?" "Well at least Kakashi was there in time." "He is awake. We'll talk about this later."

"Hello Naruto, I hear you forgot to lock your door." Sarutobi said with a playful smile. "Did Keiko forget to tell you to do that when you leave and when you go to bed at night. I am truly sorry. Keiko and I were talking and she will be staying with you for a couple weeks so that you can come up with a system of how you will learn to live in your new place and to keep any robbers at bay. I hear you can go home today." Naruto suddenly got a big smile, he then realized that the Hokage was talking about the apartment and he looked was very sad.

The next couple weeks went by with no incidents, Keiko took him around to find things he needed and how he could get and use money. She taught him some basics for running and jumping so that he could run a little faster and also so that he could jump farther. When Keiko left after that he felt so lonely, he did not sleep for the first night. The next day he followed his routine Keiko laid out for him. The following day was not as good as he followed his routine he was attacked, the lessons Keiko gave him proved invaluable. He was knocked down and was beaten but was able to get up and run away from the attackers. While he did not like the beating he learned to enjoy the chase. Especially the evasion of his pursuers.

After a couple months he learned how to read the villagers, who would try to attack, who would shy away and who would just avoid him. Out of sheer boredom he started pulling pranks on a villager that he knew had beat him a couple times in the last couple months. While the pranks were simple they were effective in getting the attention of said villagers. His first consisted of a bucket, some string and some water. A simple trip wire trick that would pour the water from the bucket on the head of the jerk who liked to hit him.

Also he began to wonder why most stores would not let him shop there. He was not able to find very good clothing. He found a shop that had a supply of orange jumpsuits. He did like orange, and it got him more attention. He mostly ate at home, easy things to fix. He usually ate rice, ramen, a small serving of meat and some vegetable, but as few as possible. As time went on he went to great lengths to make sure his pranks got attention and that that no one would ever get hurt. Keiko and the Hokage tried to tell him to calm down his pranks or stop them. He would explain that he was just getting even with the ones who keep on hurting him. Quietly the Hokage and Keiko were happy that he found a constructive way to express his feeling and did not want to kill those that would do him harm.

About six months after starting his life on his own Keiko and Naruto were walking in the park near the lake. They were suddenly attacked. Keiko told Naruto to run, and he did. All he could hear after her screams were his heartbeat and the steps of someone pursuing him. He felt sharp pains in his back but continued to run, towards the hospital which was the closest place he knew was near. As the hospital came into sight a masked figure appeared in front of him, Naruto was feeling very weak and gave up as he could not fight or evade this person. So he gave into the tired feeling that was enveloping him. He collapsed into the arms of said masked man.

The man immediately took a shuriken to the mask, he returned the attack killing the attacker, then lifting Naruto gently he moved to the hospital. The mask was broken over what would be the left eye. The shuriken had glanced off his headband. As Kakashi entered the hospital a nurse immediately took Naruto and put him on a gurney. The nurse carefully removed the shuriken and kunai that were in his back. She then put bandages on the wounds. After taking care of Naruto the nurse turned to Kakashi. "Ok what happened?"

"Keiko and Naruto were ambushed. We were able to take out all but one of the pursuers but they got Keiko in the process. I lost one of my men also but we were able to take out all of them. I wish no one would have gotten hurt but this was all we could do." Kakashi explained as he removed his mask showing blood running down his left cheek. "I also got hit, good thing I keep this over that eye, pointing to his headband, or I would also be dead, and so would Naruto."

"Here let me check this out. Kagome, send word to the Hokage that Naruto has been attacked again, but this time it was serious. Now let me take a look at you. Naruto will be alright, he was able to minimize the places he was hit so they are not life threatening." She dressed Kakashi's wounds and they waited for the Hokage to arrive.

The Hokage arrived in a very bad mood. "Kakashi what happened? Where is Keiko? Who is protecting the boy?"

"We were attacked, she is dead, and I want to protect him. As such I would like to leave ANBU, as I can't just stand by and watch as evil people try to kill Naruto. I will watch over him when missions allow, I know how ANBU works so I would be a perfect protector of him. It was the Uchiha's again." Kakashi answered angrily.

"Calm down Kakashi, do you know what raising a boy entails? He is still growing he needs guidance that is why I had Keiko guarding and instructing him. Did you know Keiko was an Uchiha? My guess was that they were after them both. They targeted her for disobeying the head of the clan and him for being who he is." Sarutobi said shaking his head from side to side with a sad look on his face. "What can you offer him other than your protection? There are few in the village that will have anything to do with him. At least the other nobles allow their children to play with him, but that is only sparingly. Quite a few of the ANBU do not like Naruto. What will you do when he enters the Academy?"

"Let him do as he wants. He is a prankster that could become very valuable if he could use that on a mission where it is needed for distractions. Heck with that blonde head of his we could take him on the border with the land of stones and scare the heck out of them as he looks like the second coming of my old teacher the fourth Hokage." A look of solace hit Kakashi's face. "I liked Keiko, she was good for him. She was probably one of the few Uchiha's that cared, like Obito." Kakashi added sadly. "I will let him be on his own when he enters the academy. I will train him with the information he will need, I will not teach him jutsu but I will also not leave him unprepared for life at the academy."

Sarutobi nodded his agreement. "Then you will be working as a jonin instructor when you release Naruto. You can have him as a pupil if you like but I must say you must be fare with all your possible genin students." Kakashi nodded.

Naruto was released a few days later and was greeted by Kakashi "Hello Naruto, I will be your new guardian. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I will keep the schedule that Keiko was keeping with you also I will leave a friend with you so that you can stay out of most trouble, like the other night."

Naruto sadly nodded, "so Keiko left me?" Looking very sad "will you leave me too?"

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, I will leave you to go on missions but I will leave someone with you to watch over you. Keiko left you but not willingly. From what I could tell she loved you like a brother. I am sorry she did not make it. She died making sure you made it to the hospital. I am sorry." With that they walked to Naruto's apartment.

"Tomorrow I will give you some training and we can work on some neat things. Sound good?" Kakashi asked as Naruto just nodded and walked with him to his apartment.

Hope you like this chapter.

Thanks for the reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: The usual I want to own Naruto but I don't

Sorry it too so long to post but had to write this chapter so that the story would flow better. Please read and let me know what you think.

Chapter 5 –Growing up too fast

Kakashi walked Naruto home. Naruto unlocked the door and went in. He turned to Kakashi looking drained. "Good night Kakashi. I will see you in the morning." Naruto then locked the door and walked off to bed. He cried himself to sleep not wanting to let go that Keiko would not be coming back. The next thing he knew there was a knocking at the door.

"Naruto are you awake? Naruto are you ok?" He heard Kakashi yelling from outside his door. Naruto got out of bed and walked to the door. He opened it smiling. This disturbed Kakashi to no end, but looking deeper into his eyes he could see the pain that Naruto was hiding. "Well good morning, and I am glad so see you looking so bright and chipper. So are you ready to learn how to be a ninja?"

Naruto nodded and looked like he was ready to bounce off the walls but Kakashi saw that this was not the truth as seen in his eyes. "Yes, Kakashi so we are going to get to play with some kunai and some shuriken?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "No, Naruto we are not going to work on your weapons training as of yet. We are going to work on your personal training. We are going to get you into better shape. Have you had breakfast yet?" Naruto shook his head. "Ok I will take you out to breakfast and we will then get started on physical training. I am sure you want to be strong as a prospective ninja. Am I correct?" Naruto nodded agreement. "Ok let's head to my favorite breakfast buffet."

They walked quietly down the streets of Konoha, Naruto smiling the whole way. Kakashi watch the reactions of the people as they passed most were looks of either anger or disgust, some were of even hatred. There were a few and only a few that looked at the boy in his charge and smiled or acted indifferent. 'Boy Naruto you have your work cut out for you.' Just as the thought crossed his mind he felt a twinge of killing intent and he intercepted a kunai while faking a stumble. 'That was close.' "Wow I should watch where I am going stumbling over a rock, how silly of me a jonin." He hid the weapon quickly in his weapons pouch to be later looked at to find out who had thrown it.

"How can you be a jonin if you stumble over a rock that isn't even there Kakashi-san?" Naruto replied with a chuckle. Not even aware that Kakashi had intercepted a dangerous weapon aimed at Naruto.

Stopping in front of a restaurant Kakashi states "well here we are. Let's go inside, shall we?" Naruto nods agreement.

They are stopped by the host of the restaurant. "You sir may enter but that demon may not." A look of utter disgust on his face.

'Oh boy here we go.' Kakashi rolled his eyes and moved closer to the host. "You will let us eat here or by Kami I will make sure there is a scene. I also will make sure that the insurance does not pay and you are brought up on charges of breaking the third's law. Do I make myself clear?" Kakashi threatened as the host nodded.

The host started to sweat very profusely. "As you wish sir. Will you gentlemen come with me?" He lead them to a booth back in the corner where the guests could not see Naruto.

"This will be fine. Also I would like fast service so we will not disturb your other guests too much. We have places to go and things to do. So make it fast." With that Kakashi ordered breakfast for them both making Naruto a little annoyed that he was not getting ramen. The finish breakfast with little incident and did not have any more problems with the service. They left as Kakashi walked with Naruto around the park for a couple hours.

Naruto was starting to get tired but was enjoying having time with someone who seemed to like to be around him. Kakashi was not sure why the child was getting such a bad rap. He knew about the sealing of the Kyubi, but the looks and the anger thrown at the boy was disproportionate for what he had done so far. The pranks were harmless, other than ego bruising or would embarrass them. Heck Kakashi even found some of the pranks amusing. And over the next few months he watched as Naruto would plan and execute elaborate pranks on those that had hurt him. Kakashi became somewhat annoyed when he had to kill a couple other Konoha ninja to protect Naruto.

As the months pass Naruto starts to learn writing and reading. He also learns how to mold chakra. This in itself has its problems. He has such a reserve for a small child that Kakashi is astonished. Naruto during this time also gets to meet Kakashi's summoned dog pack. When Kakashi is off on a mission he leaves one of the dogs with Naruto to keep an eye on him. After the death of a total of six ninja who attempted to attack Naruto when he is being watched by Kakashi the attacks in his presence stop.

On Naruto's next birthday Kakashi is away and Naruto is with Pakun. They are attacked Pakun is slightly injured but Naruto is again injured badly. While Pakun is fighting Naruto disappears but he hears a voice say "I will take him to the hospital." ANBU arrived shortly after that and Pakun tell them that Naruto is with a friend.

Naruto wakes up the next morning with a patched up Pakun sitting on his chest. "Hey kid you are lucky he showed up or you would not have made it." Naruto looking at Pakun with confusion written all over his face. "I tell you that you have friends around here but do not see them. He said not to tell you who he was but to keep up hope. He said that you will be a strong person one day, and he looks forward to seeing you then."

"Come on Pakun. Who was it?" Naruto asked pleadingly.

"I cannot tell you but you will eventually see him. That is all I can tell you. Now heal up and do not take off from here until they discharge you. I will keep an eye out for trouble for you. But I think that this should be safe. By the way sorry you had a such a bad birthday. The fourth sends his best wishes and apologies for the villagers."

Naruto weekly smiles. "Why do they keep the worst attacks for my birthday?"

"Not sure kid, but they are also mostly drunk from the festival. So you tell me. You are a good kid and nice to boot. Why they attack you is beyond me." Raising his paw "here you can feel my pads. They are nice and squishy." Naruto laughed and rubbed Pakun's paw making the dog really happy.

During the day Naruto got a couple visitors, Shikamaru, Shikaku, Ino, Inochi, Choza and Choji. They talked for a little while but eventually all had to go. There was one doctor who kept on checking in on Naruto and looking at his injuries. "You are such a good patient you make my job so easy. Now you get some rest and we should be able to let you out of here tomorrow afternoon." Looking at Naruto with a strange look on his face. "You know most people would be dead from your injuries. But you will be healed mostly up in a day or so. When we let you out you will need to take it easy for a couple days. Then you should be back to normal." Getting up he walks to the door. "Naruto keep safe. While I enjoy your visits I would prefer you coming in with a cold rather than near mortal injuries. Ok?" Naruto nods as he leaves the room.

"I like that guy, he is not like the other doctors. I smell no fear or anger on him like I do the others." Pakun commented as Naruto looked at him in confusion.

'I know that most people do not like me. But this doctor and the nurse seem to like me and treat me well.' Naruto looked at Pakun and started talking. "I know what you mean. Most of the villagers seem to either hate me or fear me. I have been beaten, burned, stabbed, thrown, and hurt so many times and ways I don't care to remember and I am only six years old. Why do they keep doing this?" Naruto asked as tears started to roll down his face. "I don't want to cry. But everyone hates me and most want to see me dead. Why, why do they hate me? How can there be so much hatred for just one kid? What did I ever do?" Naruto laid back and buried his head in the pillow and cried himself to sleep.

He woke up a few hours later when Pakun licked his face. "Hey Naruto, you have to get up now."

Naruto looking half asleep and confused asked "why?"

Pakun was sniffing the air. "Something is not right and we have to get out of here. I think we are going to get attacked again. So you ready? Get your keys and some pants on." Naruto did as Pakun ordered. "Ok fix the pillows like you are still in the bed and we will slip out the window. Good think we are only on the second floor." Naruto fixed the pillows and covered them up with the sheets and then opened the window and jumped out.

As they left the hospital grounds they heard a cry of "Die you demon! Die!!"

Naruto and Pakun were well on their way to Naruto's apartment when they saw a mob forming near his house. "Not good." Pakun commented. "We can go around them but they seem to want to go to your place. We should shadow them from the woods." Naruto nodded and walked with Pakun into the woods. "Wait Naruto I smell a dog and an Inazuka.

"Greetings little one." A feral looking woman was standing in front of them. "No need to worry Naruto and Pakun. You are with friends." Naruto then noticed a large gray and white wolf with an eye patch. "I am Tsume Inazuka. This here is my friend and companion Kuromaru." Pointing at the large dog with the 

eye patch, as the dog nodded. "Now you can either deal with the mob or come with me and be safe. I will send some people to get some of your stuff for you. Will that be ok Naruto?"

"H… How… How do you know my name?" Naruto was getting scared now this woman looked as wild as the untamed forest with large red tattoos on her face looking like fangs.

Tsume laughed. "You are known to us we were supposed to work with you on your abilities to track but the Hyuga's seemed to not have the time to send you too us. Now come boy we will talk of this over dinner while your so called protector is out of town." Naruto followed.

"He smells of fox, Tsume." Kuromaru quietly said.

"Yes I know, so keep the other dogs in line for our guest." Tsume responded with a smile.

She led Naruto and Pakun to the Inuzuka estate. A large two story building with a large kennel attached. Naruto was amazed at the sight of the place, and the smell too. He was a little nervous and could not tell why. All the dogs came up to him and sniffed him this was a little unsettling for him as he was not used to dogs. The other members of the Inuzuka clan came and greeted Naruto even a boy his age named Kiba.

"You smell funny. I know the smell I just can't place it." Kiba exclaimed.

"I like to eat ramen, a lot. Maybe that is it." Naruto replied smiling.

"Nah, I can smell the ramen, but there is another familiar scent on you I just can't place. Ow!!" Kiba yelped when Tsume smacked him on the back of the head.

"You will treat our guest nicely no matter what he smells like. Now let's get some food ready and go to bed. He will be staying with us until Kakashi returns. Any questions?" Tsume shouted to the clan in the middle of the hall, none had a problem with it. "Tomorrow we will start to train you in hunting and foraging. Sound good Naruto?" Naruto nodded. They had a filling dinner but it was not ramen and Naruto was happy to get some of his clothes from his apartment. Being in a hospital gown and orange pants was not his idea of comfortable and there were the bandages that were all over his body. He slept well even though he could smell dog or wet dog everywhere, he knew he was at least safe for the night.

The next morning they went on a search for rabbits on the property. For some reason Naruto was able to find them more easily than the dogs. He just seemed to be able to tell where they were. Naruto stayed with the Inuzuka for another week before Kakashi returned. They had a small party to celebrate his sixth birthday and were surprised that it was better than the ones he had at the Hyuga compound. Kiba and Naruto got a long famously and started to have mock fights with each other neither winning as the whole idea was to have fun. The Inuzuka had Kakashi enroll Naruto in the academy so that he could learn how to read and write and start to learn how to be a shinobi.

The first day at the academy Naruto walked with the Inuzuka. To his surprise he saw Hinata, he waved and she waved back, this made Naruto very happy until the Hyuga guards interposed themselves between Naruto and Hinata, all with evil stares.

When they were seated the instructor intentionally put Naruto in a corner and gave him a book to work on, he was also not able to bring it home. Hinata attempted to talk to Naruto as did a few of the other students but were blocked by the instructor. Naruto was not given recess with the other students.

As the classes went on Naruto became disenfranchised with the instructors as his questions were ignored and his work was always graded harshly without any information on how or why he was wrong. He started to not care and stole some of the books that the others were using to learn and worked on training himself. This was hard going at first as Kakashi did not notice that Naruto was having problems with school. Kakashi would offer his help if he wanted it but Naruto would refuse and give him a happy face. Kakashi assumed that things were going fine at the academy.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Naruto

Chapter 6 – Academy – final years

Two years from graduation, in the instructor's lounge. "Yes lord Hiashi, how may I help the head of the Hyuga clan?" Iruka asked.

"I would like you to take Naruto under your wing and keep him safe, because of being the head of the clan can only help him so much. I know that the Kyubi killed your mother and father "looking sad. "He is not the Kyubi, he is very good boy, misguided, but good. I hope you will come to see this. But please do not show him too much favoritism. Let him become who he will become. I would like you to help him along as a favor, but I hope you will eventually do it out of your own concern for a student. Also I have the permission of the Hokage to talk to you about him being the container of the Nine-tails. "

Iruka nodded, "I have seen him suffering. I will do what I can. But I will not necessarily go easy on him."

Hiashi nods "I understand. As a second favor I would also like you to keep an eye on my daughter Hinata. We hope she will have what it takes to become my heir. I am afraid she will be too much like her mother, and too soft."

Iruka eyed him, "how so?"

Hiashi just says "you will see."

"Well they are only a couple years out from graduating from the academy. I will devote some of my time to meet them both and see what I can do to help." Iruka responded with a smile.

Later that night Itachi is standing over the dead bodies of his aunt and uncle confronting Sasuke. "Foolish little brother. You will live because you are too weak. If you want to kill me hate me, despise me. For only when you possess these eyes only then will you be able to kill me." With that comment Itachi left the hidden leaf village.

A year later Naruto is practicing shuriken throwing. His aim is deteriorating due to extreme fatigue. Hinata is watching him intently, from behind a tree. Naruto collapses and Hinata has a look of deep concern on her face, but does not move from her place immediately. 'Please get up Naruto' Hinata thinking to herself. After ten minutes of him not moving she runs to his side, he is breathing heavily and sweating profusely. She cradles his head in her lap 'I hope he is ok.'

Hiashi appears behind his daughter "Are you concerned for him?" A look of fear appears on her face.

"Y-yes, father, I am. He pushed himself too far. I am scared for him. I am sorry if I broke any of the rules the council set up."

Hiashi looks down upon the boy and inwardly smiles. "Then we shall get him some help. And the rules were for Uzumaki-san not you." He picked him up and then they headed off to the hospital.

They arrive at the hospital. Hiashi brings Naruto to the admitting area. "Name of patient, and condition?" the nurse asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki, extreme fatigue and minor cuts." Several of the nurses gasped at the name, one just smiled.

The smiling nurse took Naruto from Hiashi's arms exclaiming "back again are we young man? What so ever are we going to do with you?" She carried him to a waiting gurney.

Hinata watched with deep concern, she then looked up at her father's reassuring smile. "He is in good hands now. Let's go home." She smiled and nodded agreement.

Later that evening at the Hyuga compound in the council chamber an argument is going on. "No we will not have that demon in our mists anymore" yelled a council member.

"He is not a demon and he is the savior of this village, I am only asking that he be allowed to come back and live here to protect him for harm. He after all is keeping the demon at bay." Hiashi exclaimed.

"What next you would have him marry your first born? She is as of yet not a worthy heir as it is."

Hiashi fuming, "you would speak to the main branch so? I should kill you where you stand." His anger is hitting the boiling point. "Hinata's future is for me her father to determine at this point and for her to determine as she get older. Back to Naruto, he is regularly beaten, stabbed, burned and he is ridiculed by ones such as yourselves. He is working hard and is improving. He defended and protected my heir on several occasions. You would have him die out there where he is attacked on regular basis. He doesn't even understand why they try to kill him. And the law forbids us from telling him why he is so hated. You old prunes."

"His death would be a benefit to the village and we would be rid of the demon once and for all."

"Bigots all of you, you are not worthy to be a member of the council. You sound more like an Uchiha not a Hyuga. Would you have me marry off my oldest to the Uchiha's?" Hiashi sighed.

"We are looking out for the good of the clan not one individual. Most of us bear the child no ill will, but fear of what he might become is what we fear. We have seen the prankster side of him. As for a possible union of the Uchiha's and the Hyuga, would that be so bad?" An elderly Hyuga explains.

"Then we should continue to show him the benefits of human kindness not the evils of hate and ungratefulness. I am done here if you say no." Hiashi looks around the chamber only to find a couple of people who appear to care the rest either have looks of disgust or cannot look him in the eyes. He turns and leaves saying "I can tell what the decision is just by the looks on your faces. Good night."

The next morning at the Hokage's office Sarutobi is listening to Hiashi's report on how it went with the Hyuga clan council. "I tell you they would not listen to reason. The boy needs a family, a home and needs guidance."

"I understand where you stand. I can do little for him myself other then visit him and try to make his life easier. Kakashi is working with him and the Inuzuka are also working with him." Sarutobi smoothing his beard, "We enrolled him in the academy as planned. Now he can approach other children, and maybe find some more friends. I know the Nara, Akamichi, and Inazuka families let their children play with him. He seems to be doing fine. His pranks are at an all time high, especially since the Keiko incident."

Hiashi's eyes appeared happy "I will also help out with money if need be. I have already got someone who is doing what you say as we speak but he does it out of concern from his heart. Also I intend to try to honor my promise to Minato, if Hinata will have him, she will be betrothed to Naruto. But we cannot let anyone know."

"I understand, and agree. That is good you are giving her a choice in the matter."

"Oh I am not giving her a choice, she has already made it." Hiashi smiling, "she is always following him and trying to get his attention but has not succeeded. We will give it time, they are only children anyways. And anyways he has saved her life. How can he forget that? How can I forget it? And when he approaches her he is always nice and kind to her. Also I am afraid I am going to have to shun her to help improve her abilities, I do not wish it but the clan wants her to become the heir she is supposed to be. "

"I understand, as I said I will do what I can for Naruto as I also care for him as I do all the people of this village. I wish you luck in your dealings with your clan and your daughter's development."

"I hope after this hardship she will like her present of being betrothed to Naruto. I will let her know on her fifteenth birthday that she is betrothed." He had a sly smile on his face. I will let her know that she will either have to find someone before her eighteenth birthday or I will have to honor my agreement. On her eighteenth I will inform her that it is Naruto, but she will have to get him to agree to it. Also I understand that he will inherit the Namikaze estate when he turns eighteen. Am I correct?"

Sarutobi had a sly smile on his face. "Yes that is true and it is a 'for Hokage's eyes only' document. How do you know about this?"

Hiashi chuckled. "Well Minato and I talked as our wives. Not sure how they will run the Hyuga affairs but when I retire I will try to make the problems as minimal as possible."

Later the next day just inside the Hyuga dojo Hiashi talks to Kurenai sounding very harsh "do what you will with her, she is not a worthy successor. She is even less than her sister who is five years her junior. Take her, and do what you must." 'I am sorry my daughter, this is what must be done. I hope in time you will understand.'

Kurenai was not looking happy "as you wish Lord Hyuga. I will do what I can." Exiting the dojo she sees Hinata looking very sad. 'What a jerk, I will do what I can for you, Lady Hinata.'


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Naruto.

A lot of this chapter is close to cannon and is the actual start of the series. Enjoy...

Chapter 7 – The beginning

A little over a year later has us following Naruto as he is chased by a couple Chunin. "You can't catch me" Naruto yells while jumping from roof to roof. "Naruto!!" yell his pursuers.

Inside an elderly man is painting but stops as hears approaching footsteps. "Lord Hokage, lord Hokage!!"

Sarutobi looked annoyed at the disruption while he was painting. "What is it this time? And it had better be important." Grimacing "and don't tell me it's Naruto"

Both of the men who entered the room looked nervous "but it is Naruto." The Hokage rolled his eyes.

"What did he do this time?" he asked.

One of the men stated "he defaced the faces of the Hokages"

Back outside the boy is still being chased. He jumps down to the street and appears to jump back up to the roof tops. Both of his pursuers continue down the street. The fence seems to shimmer and a sheet is lowered revealing the boy. "Losers!" he said as he was sticking his tongue out. "Figures you'd fall for that"

"Naruto!!" Naruto is so startled he falls down. Iruka is breathing heavy says "I finally caught you!"

"What do you want Iruka sensei? What are you doing here?" exclaim Naruto as he is rubbing his butt.

Iruka looks really angry "No! What are you doing here, you should be in class." Iruka pulls out some rope as Naruto attempts to escape but is tied up and dragged back to class.

Back in the class room, most of the kids are snickering as Naruto is brought in all tied up. All but one who has a look of concern on her face, she has pale lavender eyes and short dark hair. 'Oh Naruto-kun… I hope you are alright… I hope Iruka Sensei did not hurt you…'

"Alright Naruto since you decided to skip the lesson we will review" exclaimed Iruka, a collective 'oh…' rang out from the other students. "Ok we will practice using the 'henge' or transformation jutsu. Ok first up Sakura Haruno." Sakura transforms into Iruka, as Iruka checks her off his list. Sasuke Uchiha is next as Sakura attempts to get his attention with her ability to transform. He ignores her and transforms himself into Iruka.

"Don't screw this up Naruto." Shikamaru exclaims.

"Yeah we always pay for your screw ups. Come on Naruto give us a break." Ino added in.

"Like I care." Naruto commented.

Down the line of children Hinata was watching Naruto and thinking 'Do your best Naruto' as she was pushing her fingertips together.

"Transform!" Naruto yells. A beautiful and naked girl with blonde pony tails appears, except for whiffs of smoke covering her most vital areas. "This is my sexy jutsu."

Iruka is flabbergasted, his jaw drops and he falls over backwards, nose bleeding. "What?" He gets back up putting some tissue in both of his nostrils. Naruto is on the floor laughing so hard his sides ache. "Naruto what type of jutsu is that? Wait, don't tell me and never do it again!!" Iruka finally gets the class back to some semblance of order. "Tomorrow will be your finals. So practice hard." Iruka happily exclaimed as the students left for the day.

The following day the class is assembled for the day. "Ok today the final will be on the clone jutsu." A universal round of "ah…." came from the class.

Naruto is called into the next room to take his test. He begins to build up chakra, and attempts to create a clone "Clone jutsu". A pathetic almost comical version of Naruto was laying face down next to him.

"You fail!" yelled Iruka. Naruto looked very sad and down trodden.

"Come on Iruka sensei. We should pass him." Naruto perked up at Mizuki's comments. "This is his third attempt at trying to pass, meaning he really does want to become a ninja. And he did replicate."

"I understand Mizuki sensei, but I we cannot pass him. All the other students made at least three replications. He was only able to make one. And look at it. It's pathetic. I am sorry but we cannot pass him." Iruka explained.

Outside of the academy children are celebrating with their families as they graduate ninja school. Off on a tree swing Naruto sits sidesaddle, looking very depressed. "Look at him, at least he didn't graduate." One woman exclaimed. "It would be disastrous if he had passed. Because of what…." Another woman says only to be interrupted "you know we are not supposed to talk about that"

Hinata while happy looks sadly upon Naruto as did her father, just as Mizuki approaches Naruto. Hinata looks at her father, who looks sad for an instant then turns to his daughter and smiles. Naruto and Mizuki disappear as Sarutobi talks to Iruka "we need to talk Iruka."

We see Naruto and Mizuki are sitting on a balcony somewhere in town. "Iruka sensei is tough but he is not against you. He is just hard on you because he wants you to be strong with all his heart." Naruto perks up at Mizuki's comment, "but you know there is another way to graduate? I could tell you about it if you are interested in listening."

Naruto's eyes lit up with there being an alternative way to graduate.

Later that evening at his home Iruka is remembering the night of terror twelve years ago and is shaken from his memories by a hard knock on his door. He gets up and finds Mizuki waiting "it's Naruto, he's stolen the scroll."

"You don't mean the scroll of sealing? Do you?" Iruka questioned as Mizuki nodded.

In the woods in a training ground near a shack Naruto has a scroll and is opening it "Now let's see… Multi-Shadow-Clone jutsu… Ah, man. I would have to be a clone jutsu, my worst jutsu…"

Unknown to Naruto someone is watching him. 'What are you doing Naruto? I am sorry you did not pass. I wish I could have helped you study so that you could have passed. But I am not strong enough, even though I know you are strong.' Hinata continued to watch from a distance as he keeps on trying to do the jutsu.

She continues to watch as he nears exhaustion, and starts to move out to talk to Naruto but notices someone coming so she returns to her hiding spot. Iruka stands over the tired Naruto "found you."

"Wow, Iruka sensei you found me fast. I was only able to learn one jutsu." Naruto happily explains.

'Wow he has been training. I can tell' Iruka thinks, "what do you think you are up too?"

"Well, you're going to let me pass if I can show you this killer jutsu I learned…" Naruto happily exclaims.

"What do you mean? Let you pass?" Iruka questions while still breathing hard.

"Well, if someone learns a jutsu from this scroll they automatically pass, right?" Hinata thinks 'could it be possible to pass another way? No, I am sure they would not do that.'

Iruka looks confused, asking "who told you that?"

"Mizuki sensei. Why?" Naruto now is beginning to feel confused and worried.

Iruka feels strong killing intent and suddenly pushes Naruto to the side yelling "look out!" He is hit by a dozen kunai. Naruto looks on as his sensei is now bleeding from several wounds, the smell of blood and killing intent is thick in the air. "I should have known, Mizuki. I should have known you were after the scroll of sealing. Naruto run away don't let Mizuki have the scroll of sealing."

All Naruto could do is look on in horror as his two sensei fought. "Naruto give me the scroll, I …" Mizuki said calmly.

"It's a lie!!" yelled Iruka. Hinata was also struck with terror, not understanding what was going on and why her Sensei were arguing and what it had to do with Naruto.

"A lie! I'll tell you about lying. They have been lying to you all your life Naruto…" Mizuki explained only to be interrupted by Iruka.

"You can't!! It's forbidden!"

Mizuki ignoring Iruka, "twelve years ago the Kyubi was sealed inside you Naruto! You are the nine-tailed fox! You are the demon! Now die!!" Mizuki pulls a large shuriken off his back and throws it at Naruto.

Hinata at first is filled with fear, 'no, Naruto is too kind to be the Kyubi. I don't believe it, someone must stop it… I love you… please don't die' she collapse and starts to weep uncontrollably.

Naruto starts to scramble away only to falter. "Get down Naruto" Naruto attempts to cover his head waiting for the end. He hears the shuriken hit something but does not fell anything. He slowly turns to see Iruka kneeling over him, in obvious pain.

"Why?" all Naruto could say was.

"Because we both are alike you and I, I didn't we both know the pain of not having parents. When my parents died I tried to hide the pain by becoming the class clown, and my grades started to suffer. The loneliness was so unbearable. I know that feeling. And I could have been there more for you. I am sorry Naruto." The pain was welling up in Naruto so all he could do is run. "Naruto!!" Iruka reaches up calling to him, silently pleading with him to not run.

Mizuki jumps down and dodges the large shuriken that Iruka pulled out of his back and threw at Mizuki. "You know what is going to happen. Once he gets his mind made up nothing can change it. He is going to pour all his rage into the scroll and then he is going to destroy the village. After I kill him I am going to come back and finish you off, you weakling Iruka." Mizuki says laughingly.

Hinata finally gets control of her feelings, 'I must help Naruto. He is hurting. There must be something I can do. But I am too weak to fight Mizuki sensei. What can I do?' She looks back the area where fighting had occurred and only a blood stain remained.

Naruto is jumping thru the trees and suddenly Iruka appears near him. "Mizuki was lying, give me the scrolls Naruto." Naruto changes direction and rams into Iruka. On the ground Iruka asks "how did you know I was not" changes to Mizuki, "Iruka".

Naruto sits down and pulls the scroll off his back. He then transforms into Iruka, "because I am Iruka."

"Why are you protecting him, he is a beast." Mizuki accused.

"How's that?" questioned Iruka.

"He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything." Hinata quietly gasped wanting to go comfort Naruto. Hiashi further back was just shaking his head as he listened to Mizuki 'you have not a clue about the boy. I hope he proves you wrong and I do not have to interfere.'

"You're right" Iruka agrees. Naruto thinking 'so it's true, Iruka sensei never believed in me. He thinks I am some kind of beast, some kind of freak' while he continues to cry. "That is how beasts are, but that is not how Naruto is." Naruto suddenly realizes that Iruka does care about him. "He's nothing like that. Naruto is one of a kind. He works hard puts his whole heart into it, sure he messes up sometimes. And everyone jumps on him. But his suffering only makes him stronger. That is what separates him from being a beast. So you're wrong he's nothing like the Nine-tailed fox. He is Naruto Uzumaki of the village hidden in the leaves!"

"Huh, you really think I believe that drivel? Iruka I was going to save you for later, but I changed my mind. You're finished" Pulling the second large shuriken off his back and spinning to get ready to throw it. He is suddenly hit in the gut by Naruto.

"Naruto!?" Iruka says surprised. And two other sets of eyes are surprised to see Naruto, Hiashi and Hinata both are in different locations looking on.

"Not bad for a little punk" Mizuki exclaims as he stands up. Hinata yells in her mind 'be careful Naruto.' As Hiashi thinks 'we shall now see if I was right or the council was right. Please Naruto prove me right.'

"If you ever lay a finger on my Sensei, I'll kill you." Naruto says angrily.

"Such big words, I can completely destroy you with just one move." Mizuki retorted.

"Take your best shot fool. I will give it back to you a thousand fold." Naruto boldly declares.

"Let's see you try, show me what you can do nine-tailed fox!"

Naruto crosses his fingers into a hand sign while gathering chakra. "Shadow Clone jutsu…" declares as hundreds of Naruto fill the clearing surrounding Mizuki. "Come on, if you are not going to come to me I am going to come after you." All onlooker s are stunned.

'Those aren't illusions, those are actual clones. He's mastered an extremely advanced jutsu.' Iruka smiled with admiration. Hiashi turns with a smile 'good job Naruto, I expect to see good things from you in the future. And Hinata for now you can hide in the shadows, but please come out and talk to him. He could use your companionship.'

Hinata leaves in awe, but still disappointed that he did not pass graduation. 'Good bye Naruto I hope to see you soon.'

Naruto proceeds to charge with his clone army and pummels the confused Mizuki. Naruto laughs as he looks at the beaten and bruised Mizuki. "Guess I went a little overboard." Naruto chuckles and scratches his head as he turns to Iruka.

Iruka teasingly says, "Close your eyes." Naruto complies, as Iruka takes off his headband and puts it on Naruto. "Ok you can open your eyes." Naruto sees a smiling Iruka, minus his headband, "you graduate."

"Yeah! Thank you Iruka sensei!" tackling his teacher.

"Naruto let have some ramen tonight. Tonight I will take you out for ramen to celebrate." 'From here on out it will only get harder, but if I tell you that now it will only ruin the moment. Maybe I will tell you later.' Iruka thought.

Dawn came to the forest shining a new day on Naruto and his future.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

I would like to say that given that there are only three teams and I hate the Sasuke, Naruto relationship, therefore I am putting Narurto on team 8 and shifting Kiba to team 7. Truth be known I HATE SASUKE, he is an arrogant egocentrical, spoiled brat who has everything handed to him and expecting everything to be that way and not have to work for it.

I would also like to note that I have read S'TarKan's story Team 8. I am borrowing one jutsu from it but I had started writing this story before I read that story so any similarities are just that similarities. I recomend TEAM 8 as a story it is very good and well written. My thinking is that Naruto would be a good addition to team 8 and Kiba would give team 7 a heavy hitter and a scout on the team.

So enjoy the story.

Chapter 8 – Team selection

Naruto arrives early to class. Shikamaru notices him and asks "why are you here?"

Naruto quickly explains as he is noticed by a certain dark haired girl, "I graduated, see Shikamaru. See, a regulation headband." Shikamaru just shakes his head and puts a 'what-ever' look on his face.

Hinata's heart soars with his words, 'I am glad we will not be separated, congratulations Naruto.'

Naruto walks over and takes a seat close to Sasuke, but not noticing that he was there. Sakura and Ino both enter the room somewhat out of breath. Sakura notices Sasuke and smiles, Naruto noticing Sakura thinks, 'there Sakura, hey she is smiling at me.' As she approaches he says, "hey Sakura."

She shoves him out of the way exclaiming "out of the way." Naruto is left on the floor nursing a bruise on the head and one in the ego. Sakura starts to prattle on to Sasuke who seems to want to ignore her. Naruto jumps up on the desk in front of Sasuke, eyeing him. 'What do they see in him? He is not so great.'

Sasuke notices him and just says "what loser?" This infuriates Naruto even more, looking at Sakura then back at Sasuke.

The girls are gathering near the desk and start yelling "stay away from our Sasuke."

Another student bumps Naruto who then accidently kisses Sasuke. Both realize this and stat coughing and spitting at this incident. But the girls are not happy that Naruto took Sasuke's first kiss, as they wanted that privilege. Naruto feels a strong killing intent.

Looking over at the girls they are all mad and Sakura is cracking her knuckles. "Naruto…" The girls proceed to pummel him.

In the Hokage's office the Hokage has several Jonin assembled and starts to talk about the teams "There goes Naruto again in the middle of trouble as usual." A group of Jonin looked on as Naruto was pummeled by the girls in the class. The crystal ball then moves on to Sasuke, as he contemplates who is being shown.

"May I have Naruto on my team?" Kurenai asked. "As there seems to be some bad blood between the Uchiha and Naruto, also it would help my team out having someone with his attitude and abilities if what Iruka said was correct."

Sarutobi pondered the information for a moment. "Ok, are you are sure? He can be quite a handful." Kurenai nods.

"Kakashi, would you have any problems with trading Kiba Inuzuka for Naruto?" Kurenai asks.

"No not really, heck it might even improve their chances of making the cut. Sasuke will be enough of a handful without having the Uchiha's biggest enemy on the same team. I am not even sure that he knows why he does not like Naruto. And as of right now Naruto only likes two Uchiha and they are both dead. He is like a nephew to me so please be good to him as he has a special spot in my heart. Also I would not like to show favoritism as I have done some training of Naruto and he would ruin my test too boot." Kakashi added.

Iruka enters the classroom. "Ok settle down. We will now place you on teams." The students started to get seated. "Team 7 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. " Kiba and Sasuke rolled their eyes as Sakura cheers. "Next, team eight will include Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Naruto Uzumaki" Hinata looked very happy, Shino impassive, and Naruto slightly let down by the news. "Team 10 is Ino Yaminaka, Choji Akamichi, and Shikamaru Nara." Ino also looked less than pleased with her team.

"Why do I have to get stuck with you and food boy?" Ino asked Shikamaru, "why not Sasuke?"

"Luck I guess," Shikamaru quipped. 'Why is it that jerk Sasuke? What is it with him anyways? Oh well, who can figure out girls?'

Hinata looking at Naruto as he disappointingly stares at Sakura "I am glad we are on the same team, Naruto-kun," she exclaims quietly.

Naruto turns and changes his sad face in an instant to a great big grin "You know it Hinata. We will be the greatest team." She knows this is an act, trying to cover for him not being on the team with Sakura. "Yea, at least I don't have to be a team with that jerk Sasuke." 'I suddenly feel killing intent' Hinata closes her eyes as Sakura who has moved behind Naruto, slams her fist into the back of his head which bounces off the desk.

"What did you say, Naruto?" Sakura angrily asks.

His head slowly rises from the desk with blood flowing from his lip and nose, "Um, um, please S… Sakura…" Hinata starts to whisper.

"Please refrain from injuring my teammate before we have gotten to know him Haruno," Shino interrupts. Shino speaking causes Sakura to immediately go back to her seat without apologizing, but also she returns a few shades paler than she left.

As Sakura returns to her seat saying quietly "what a weirdo, glad I am not on that that team." Kiba just nods and giggles as Sasuke gets up and starts to leave.

"You are free to do as you like until you are to meet your new Jonin teachers after lunch. Good bye and good luck." Iruka says as he leaves the room.

Naruto wipes the blood of his lip and nose and looks around confused. "Huh? What happened?"

"Um….Um…." Hinata starts to stutter and pressing her index fingers together while blushing.

"Sakura is what happened. She hit you on the head. Would you like to eat lunch together as a team?" Shino says nodding to Hinata, she nods a thank you. "I know I do not speak much but I would like to get to know my teammates some before we meet our new sensei. Would this be acceptable Naruto? I know you from how you act in class but I would like to understand, I mean know you better."

Naruto scratching behind his head "sure that sounds great, this is a first. Well other than Iruka sensei, uncle Kakashi and the old man. I mean… they will take me out to Ramen occasionally, I like it, and the ramen especially, the pork, the miso…"

"Shall we go?" Shino interrupts. All three get up and head out to one of the practice fields on the academy grounds.

Hinata bows her head holding a large bento box, "I have made enough for all three of us." She offers blushing slightly "if that is ok with you."

Naruto looks at her questioningly, and then bursts into a big grin "wow that is great! Did you make this yourself, Hinata?" She nods, "wow you're incredible. Believe it." Hinata turns bright red.

Hinata hands a small box to each of them on the blanket that was holding the three lunches.

"N… Naruto-kun?" Hinata quietly asked.

"Yes Hinata?"

"I am sorry a about what my clan did. I am glad to see you again." 'I am so happy.'

Naruto looking confused he then looks down. "I know the clan did not want me but we will have plenty of time to talk about that later." Looking away for a minute to hide his sadness, he then turned to Shino. "So what can you do with your bugs now? I have not seen or talked to you, like you talk that much anyways" he grins, "in a couple years."

Shino looked at Naruto impassively, "I have improved my control of them, I do apologize for them attacking you last time but I was low on chakra and they were very hungry."

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "That is ok, I forgive them. But boy did I wake up feeling drained." Munching on the lunch, "boy Hinata, this is great, not quite ramen but great." This made Hinata blush an even brighter red.

"Arigato, N... Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. They finished lunch without much more being said. They headed back to the classroom. When they entered they saw the other students sitting as teams, quietly chatting amongst themselves.

Naruto sat down in between Hinata and Shino. She noticed that he had an angry look on his face, looking at Sasuke, 'I wonder why he doesn't like him, I personally can't stand how the girls all fawn over him. I know his clan was wiped out by his older brother but he treats people like they are nobody. I hope Naruto and I can patch up our friendship since the clan can no longer forbid me to see him.' Hinata blushed at the idea of rekindling her friendship with Naruto and possibly tell him how she really feels about him.

"Earth to Hinata…" Naruto caught her attention by waving his hand in front of her eyes. "Our Sensei is here. Let's go, Shino is down waiting for us with her." She wakes up from her daydream, and looks down to see Kurenai standing next to Shino. The both got up and headed down to Kurenai. She led them to the top of the academy to a couple of benches in the arboretum.

"I am Kurenai Yuuhi. I will be your Sensei. I would like to know a little about you, as I am sure your teammates would too. Please tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and the like. I will go first. I am Kurenai Yuuhi, I like genjutsu, I dislike arrogant people who are full of themselves, and I have several hobbies, of which I will not elaborate. I know Hinata, so you can go next."

"Ano… I am Hinata Hyuga, of the Hyuga clan. I like… "She turned red and looked directly at Naruto, "friends, I dislike being weak and those who pick on the weak. My hobbies include pressing flowers. My dream is to be acknowledged by my father and someone else." Hinata bowed to her team mates.

Kurenai looked at Naruto and nodded. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen especially that from Ichiraku's. I hate the three minutes it takes to fix instant ramen. My hobbies include tasting different ramen and studying plants. And my dream is to be Hokage, so that I will be respected by everyone. Believe it!!"

Kurenai nodded to Shino. "I am Shino Aburame, I like quiet. I dislike the needless killing of insects. My hobbies include collecting and categorizing insects. I wish to become the head of my clan."

Kurenai smiled. "Good, I hope this team will work well together, I do have a test that will require you to be at training ground 14 in the morning say about 9 am. Also I would like to talk to Naruto alone. After which you can catch up with him it should be only a few minutes. "

Both Hinata and Shino got up to leave, Hinata though hesitating to leave as if she wanted to talk to Naruto. "Hinata I will only be a minute I will get you when we are done here so you can wait at the top of the stairs." Hinata bowed and walked off.

"Um, Sensei? Why did you want to talk to me?"

"Naruto, I know about you and what you carry." Naruto had a look of fear on his face and started to back away from his teacher. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and a relaxed smile. "Relax Naruto, I do not fear you and I do not harbor you any ill will, other than your taste in clothes." This immediately got him somewhat angry, but knowing that there were two reasons he wore orange, one he liked it and two it made him show up in a crowd. "I know you contain the Kyubi, and yes I said contain, not are."

He relaxed a little as Kurenai continued. "There are a few reasons I wanted you on my team. One you were slated to be on the team with Sasuke Uchiha, whom you seem to have problems working with. I know you know Hinata, and I am sure you can work better with her than him. Also I noticed your fascination with one Sakura Haruno. I can tell you have a crush on her, drop it now, because I do not see her changing anytime soon. And she is rather abusive to you no matter how nice you are to her. Two, I need a close in fighter with a huge chakra reserve, that would be you. Someone who can cause a major distraction if we get in trouble and know how to get away with little or no effort, you I know can do that. I have heard the stories of how you have been able to escape from ANBU members when they chase you. " This brought a giggle to Naruto.

"I know you have worked with the Inuzuka did they help you work on your sense of smell?" Naruto nodded. "I would like you to take the roll as guardian and all around helper in the team. That would be learning your first steps to becoming the Hokage. With your shadow clones you can help the team out in so many ways. Knowing that you have protected Hinata on numerous occasions made the choice of you even easier. I would also like you to get some different clothes for when you are on missions, but you will have to pass my test tomorrow before we talk about you changing your attire."

Naruto looked surprised, "what do you mean pass? I thought the exam was for that."

Kurenai smiled, "it is for those who are capable of becoming Genin. You and your teammates will have to prove you can be a team to me so that we can become a team. I will see you tomorrow morning. And don't worry about being the vessel of the Kyubi, I think of it as asset and hope you will too. You are a special person in the village. You are protecting us from it. So your secret is safe with me. See you tomorrow Naruto."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: As usual I do not own Naruto.. but enjoy anyways.

Chapter 9 - Tests

Naruto was left to think about what Kurenai had said to him. She mentioned to the Kyubi but did not talk to him in a demining way. He started to smile and think that not all people in the village hated him, sort of like it was a few years ago, but he did feel lonely at that thought, being asked to leave the Hyuga compound and told not to talk or have anything to do with Hinata outside of the academy. That hurt him deeply. He started to cry at the thought of how much he missed playing and talking with Hinata. Just then a hand was set upon his shoulder, he jumped.

"Um… S… S… sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to scare you." Hinata said shyly.

Naruto wiped his eyes then put on a big grin, "it's ok Hinata. I was just thinking about what Kurenai said to me and about what happened with…" he trailed off looking sad again.

"Are you thinking about when the clan asked you to leave?" She turned her head looking ashamed and ready to cry. "I am sorry Naruto. I had nothing to do with that. It hurt me deeply as you were such a friend, I am sure it hurt you more." She started to cry. "I… I apologize for what my clan did to you, it was terrible. You were all alone and even worse you ended up all alone again." Naruto looked on in awe as this is more than Hinata would say at one time, since they started the academy. "I am glad though… we are friends still aren't we?" The look of longing and sadness were evident in her eyes.

"Yes" he said reassuringly."I don't hold what happened against you, as you are you and not your clan. I am sure they had their reasons…" a look of anger crossed his face for an instant, but quickly changed back to the smiling one she knew.

"I am glad. I hope we can work well as a team together, I am sure that Shino will make sure that we do not screw up too badly. But I am worried…" Hinata replied. She started to think about what Naruto was talking about. 'About you and your secret, and how you have to bear such a burden. As I think back you have always been strong. You saved me so many times I can hardly count. And you were there when my mother died, to help me through some of that, and then what the clan did to you was so… so, cruel. How could they send you away like that? Away from the clan, from me… We… I needed you… I need you…' she started to cry.

"I am sorry Hinata, I… I… I'm sorry." He put his arm around her to comfort her as best he could. "It will be alright, believe it." They stayed that way for several minutes until Hinata's sobbing subsided.

A noise came from outside the arboretum. He heard a few familiar voices. Kakashi he knew, and Sakura's also, they moved from the bench where he was holding Hinata who had stopped crying and to the edge of the opening.

Kakashi stated "Ok tell me a little about your selves. Tell me your likes, your dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future."

Sakura questioned "what do you mean Sensei? What are you looking for? Could you show us what you mean?"

Kakashi sighed, "Ok, my name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes, hm..? I like a lot of things. I hate lots of things. Hobbies, I have lots of hobbies. And my dreams are my own. Ok your turn."

"That was useless all we got from him was his name…" Sakura exclaimed as Kiba nodded "Ok. I am Sakura Haruno. I like… Who I like…" she started to get giddy and looked at Sasuke.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, 'figures girls her age are more interested in boys then being a ninja.'

"Naruto!" was all she said. Hinata watched Naruto visibly slump as if someone had hit him with a pipe. She grabbed his arm and led him away. She knew this would hurt him, hearing that someone whom he liked hated him.

They got down the stairs well enough. He seemed to be on autopilot. She lead him home, he opened the door with his key, more out of habit not out of realizing that he was home or anything. She moved him to his bed then set his alarm as he just slumped on the bed and fell asleep. She watched him for an hour or two, watching him cry in his sleep. 'I hope he will recover by tomorrow. I must leave you now Naruto I will come by in the morning to check up on you.' She left quietly closing the door behind her.

The next morning Naruto wakes up realizing he is at home and the alarm is going off, it is 7 am. He goes into the bathroom and cleans himself up. 'How did I get home? The last thing I remember is talking with Hinata about the Hyuga clan, and then I heard…' He stopped right after pulling on his boxers. 'Sakura… She said she hates me… I guess Hinata took me home, man… she saw this mess… I hope she will still want to be on my team. What am I supposed to do? I hope she does not hate me too.' A knock on the door woke him from his thoughts, another knock, "just a minute!" He quickly dressed and opened the door.

"Ano… good morning Naruto-kun… Um…. I thought it would be nice to walk to the training grounds together. Would that be ok?" Hinata asked standing at the door.

Naruto looking a little depressed, "are you sure? Will it be ok? Are you sure you are not mad at me? I mean for… well, I guess." He bows deeply, "domo arigato, for bringing me home yesterday. I really apologize if I caused you any bother." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Y… Yesterday was not a bother. You are never a bother. I was glad I could help you. We could talk as we go to the training area if you like. I am sorry Sakura was so mean. I would never say something like that… I mean, I like you… "She turned beat red and passed out, Naruto quickly caught her and brought her into his apartment and laid here on the couch. She woke up a few minutes later. "What happened? Why am I in your apartment?" She smelled something cooking or is it tea?

Naruto entered the room with tray with two cups and a bowl. "Tea? I can fix you something if you have not had breakfast. Would you like anything?" Hinata took the cup and shook her head to the offer of breakfast. He started to eat, "sorry to eat in front of you but I have not eaten yet."

"That is ok Naruto-kun. I have already eaten before I came here. When you are done we can go."

"Hinata you passed out so I just put you on the couch and fixed some tea and some food for me. Since I remember the Hyuga compound, they would make sure we had food before we would go anywhere." A sad look crossed his face, "sorry, just remembering when I was there."

"It is ok Naruto-kun, are we ready to leave?" Naruto nodded as he finished his bowl and put it in the sink. He gathered the cups and put them in the sink grabbed his ninja tools and locked the door as they left.

"So Hinata, what do you think the test will be on?" Naruto asked as they headed to the practice field.

"I have no idea Naruto-kun. I guess we will see when we get there." Hinata answered.

They approached training area 14 and saw that Shino and Kurenai were already waiting for Hinata and Naruto to arrive. "Good you both are here before 9 am. Being punctual is a sign of a good shinobi. Shall we start early?" They all looked at each other and then nodded. "Ok, I would like to make this straight. We only have 9 positions open for Genin right now so you will have to fight each other for it. So begin."

They all looked at each other. Naruto looked sadly at Hinata, then at their Sensei. "Huh? Why would we fight for a position? There would be no need for a team to be formed if we were to fight each other."

Shino nodded "as silly as it sounds, I agree with Naruto fighting would be illogical. To create teams only to have them fight each other, that is not what I would think is a good way to make unity."

Hinata bringing her arms to her chest "I would never fight Naruto-kun or Shino for a position. If that is what is required, then I say we should fail." Both Naruto and Shino nodded.

Kurenai smiled, "you pass." Hinata and Naruto looked amazed. Shino seemed to have no reaction. "I needed to test if you would be a team or would you take my challenge and think only for yourself, most do not get past this point. Congratulations. Now, I have a few things to say. One, Naruto we will have to get you a new wardrobe, wait, I am saying for missions only, in the village you can where what you want." Naruto looked relieved. "Hinata, you will have to work closely with Naruto. Can you handle that?" She nodded agreement while slightly blushing, "good. Shino I want you to come up with secondary plans after my primary. Hinata you are in charge of the tertiary plans, and Naruto, you are in charge of the final plans as I know you can come up with plans that no one would think of so yours are our final backup."

They looked confused and Kurenai shrugged her shoulders. "If Naruto's plan does not get us out of a situation then we are not going to finish the mission. Naruto is an expert in evasion and eluding pursuers. I know each of you brings certain skills to the table, I chose you for various reasons, and mostly we will be a scouting squad, as we have the capabilities for surveillance and detainment." Naruto looked uneasy in that he had not always been that observant. "And yes Naruto you do have your times where you are very observant, I am looking for that, as you will more than likely see things that the others of us will miss. As expected you passed my test for being a team. I tried to pit you against one another. Had you taken the bait you would have been sent back to the academy. Now each of you has an ability that you will use and improve upon. Hinata you have your Byakugan, Shino you have your destruction insects, and Naruto you have your Kage Bunshin, and several other tricks. Of which I would like to address. Naruto I would like you to stop pulling pranks on the village."

To her surprise he nodded, "I would also like to address your attire." This brought a look of utter terror to his face. "I told you that you will have to change your look for missions, around town you can wear what you like, but as a general idea you should either blend into the background or at least not draw attention to yourself." She raised a hand to forestall any counter arguments, "I would like you to get some greens, blues, or neutral colors for your outfit. I can take you to places that where you can find these things." She smirked, "Hinata and I will go with you to help you choose a couple outfits that will both be helpful and beneficial to our team. Now I would like for Hinata and Shino to spar so I can observe and talk to Naruto. Ok, begin."

She walked a little ways away and bid Naruto to follow as Hinata and Shino began to spar. They sat down watching the sparing match, Naruto was the first to speak up. "Um… Sensei, I wasn't going to continue to do any more pranks." He said as he was looking at the ground, "you see, when I graduated I told myself the village now had at least somewhat accepted me so I would not need to pull pranks on them."

"I am impressed, that takes a level of maturity to make a unilateral decision. Especially if the villagers may take time to change their attitude towards you or even if they do not." She could see that the second part stung Naruto.

He looked up at her with a determined look on his face. "Sensei, I know that my clothes are for attention, which I know I am trying to get from just about anyone. And I do like orange." He started to look contemplative. "You know most people show me either hatred or indifference. I do not like it and want to change them."

Kurenai realized that Naruto was deeper than he appeared. "Well changing people is harder than you might think. It can be done with actions, and deeds, these things will in most people bring out their false impressions and make them face them. They will either reevaluate them or they will more strongly hold onto their beliefs. Those are a lost cause and should be forgotten. I would like to talk to you now about the Kyubi."

Naruto stiffen visibly. "What about it?"

"From what I understand from Iruka, you can use the shadow clone jutsu, a forbidden technique. Do you know why it is forbidden?"

He looked at her not quite understanding, "Forbidden technique? What does this have to do with the Kyubi?"

"Well Naruto, the shadow clone jutsu, is hard for even Jonin to do, also very dangerous if not used properly. To take your chakra and divide it evenly between yourself and your clones, can be difficult if you do not have large reserves. Such as you have, and here is where we get to the Kyubi, it is also a large reserve of chakra for you. Most who attempt to use this technique are hampered by having low levels of chakra for other jutsu when they have clones, in other words. They will run out of chakra if they are not careful. You on the other hand will have chakra to spare. So I ask you how is your clone jutsu?"

With that Naruto changed from having a look of awe to looking very depressed. "Well Sensei, my clones are pathetic. I don't know why, but I never have been able to do the clone jutsu right, getting the shadow clone jutsu from the scroll was a godsend. It was so much easier than the clone, as I have not been able to do much with them."

"I see, so you have problems creating the clones. If I may ask, how many did you create when you took on Mizuki?"

With that question Naruto lit up. "A couple hundred, I was not sure." Looking a little embarrassed, "I was a little mad at the time."

Kurenai looked surprised then smiled, "so when do you think you should tell them? They will be your team, they should know. Shino will eventually figure there is something odd about you, and Hinata will eventually suspect it."

He started to scowl. "I don't want them to hate me."

Kurenai looked shocked. "I don't think they will hate you. But it is ok for now, but I am sure you will eventually either need to tell them or want too. We are a team and should know our strengths and weaknesses. We will talk again about this later." Looking at Hinata and Shino "ok you two, you can stop. Now Naruto and I will spar and you can rest for a bit. Tomorrow will be our first mission."

Naruto and Kurenai spared for about 20 minutes. Afterwards she critiqued them on forms and abilities. She commented that Hinata had the best stance and best style of all her students. Shino was the best at blocking. Naruto, well, he was the best as trying to make the best of the situation. He has a poor stance and poor style. As promised she took Naruto shopping with Hinata. He dreaded going into stores for the most part in that the shopkeepers would most of the time either shoo him away or they would accuse him of stealing and beat him while driving him out of the store.

But with a Jonin, and a Hyuga present they would mostly keep their mouths shut. Some would refuse to sell Naruto anything, but most complied, usually after Kurenai had a little discussion with them. Most she talked to, ended up losing color in their face, more than likely from fear. There were a few that looked on Naruto and saw a new customer, mostly those that were not familiar with the attack twelve years ago.

Hope you enjoyed it...

Ok a little note to the fans so far. Thanks for the reviews. MissNave: Well the misspelling was on purpose, this story revolve around Naruto's Happiness but there are more than one aspect to that, looking happy, being happy, and there is also being sad, or that case not being happy at all. Sorry for the confusion. DragonChips: Well I am taking my time with this, things that are fast die fast, while time heals wounds, also time makes relationships bloom. You will see what I mean. Also they are only around 12 years old so figuring out what to do and how to feel is always a problem for kids. I also have some twists and turns coming.

I am looking at this story to be a long one. Keep the coments coming I am going to post between 2 and 3 chapters when I post. And I will soon have a cliff hanger... Hope you enjoy it...


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: "Komadant Klink, I know noshing" and I claim no ownership to Naruto but he makes such a good hero... :D

Chapter 10 - Challenges

They ended up with an outfit that was mostly blue and grey, there was some orange but it was only trimming and was all that he could get in his outfit. He was surprised that he really did enjoy spending time with Hinata. After the way Sakura had treated him, even without her knowledge. As Naruto walked Hinata home, he saw Sakura. He continued to talk to Hinata, while giving only one disparaging glance towards Sakura.

Just after they passed her, she turned and hit Naruto yelling "what did you say Naruto?" This stunned Naruto and Hinata both. It also caused Naruto to drop the bags of clothes he had just bought.

Naruto holding his head looking very surprised. "Nani? What did I do? Jeez Sakura, why did you hit me?"

Sakura holding her fist out and shaking it at Naruto while breathing heavily. "What did you call me? And what were you saying about me?"

Naruto stood up and looking confused started to pick up his bags of new clothes. "Well Sakura, Hinata and I were talking about my new clothes and you were not even on my mind."

Sakura looked surprised. "You mean you weren't going to ask me out again after what you did to Sasuke?"

Naruto started looking very angry. "Sakura, I know how you feel, and don't worry. I will absolutely never ask you for a date EVER again. Let's go Hinata, I can tell where I am not wanted." He and Hinata left towards the Hyuga compound.

Sakura slowly opened her hand dropped her hand to her side as Naruto just walked off with Hinata. 'Did he just say what I thought he said? He will never ask me out on a date again. Yata!! No more annoying Naruto.' She then started to feel bad as she realized she hit him for no reason and he was only talking to Hinata. 'Wait he is going to have new clothes? What is with that? Oh well, we passed our bell test. Jeez Sasuke almost killed it for us. Good thing Kiba was able to talk him into working as a team. Had we had Naruto we would have been sent back to the academy.'

As Naruto and Hinata approached the Hyuga compound the guards were not sure what to do when Naruto to approached, but he was with Lady Hinata, they just decided to bow and allow them to pass into the compound. An elderly Hyuga saw the demon and walked up to him "what do you think you are doing here? You are not wanted." She then noticed Hinata "I am sorry my lady but he is not allowed here."

Hinata looking rather annoyed. "We are on our way to speak with father, but if you wish to stop my father from meeting my new teammate then you can tell him." All the color bled from the face of the elder. The elder quickly excused herself. Hinata just continued past the elder motioning an angry Naruto along.

Hiashi was working on some scrolls when he heard a knock. "Yes!"

Hinata and Naruto kneeled before the door as she opened it. "Um… F… Father, I am reporting in after successfully being assigned to a Genin team. I… I would like to introduce you to one of my teammate…"

Hiashi slowly turned and a look of surprise hit his face as he saw Naruto. "Please both of you come in." They entered as they were told.

Naruto bowed deeply, "hello Hiashi-sama. It is good to see you again. I hope things are well with you and the clan."

Hiashi was shocked that he showed more respect now then he did when he lived here, but did not want to show it. "Thank you Naruto. I am well. I am glad to see you well. Am I to understand that you are on the same team as Hinata?" Naruto nodded. "I request that you look after her as you did before, you were…" he turned away shocking Naruto. "You were asked to leave." He turned back to Naruto and Hinata. "So if you are on Hinata's team, I am to see more of you?" Naruto nodded. "That is good. I hope you can give Hinata some confidence."

Hinata Blushed, "Father…" She looked timidly at her father "you are not mad at him being on my team?" Hiashi shook his head no. "Then why was I forbidden from seeing him other than in class?"

Hiashi lowered his head. "This will not leave this room. Am I clear?" Both nodded their heads affirmative. "I was opposed to having Naruto removed from the compound, and not being able to see you, my daughter. He was and I believe still is a good influence for you," Hinata turned even a darker shade of red, "as her protector, and friend. You Naruto are a good boy, who I am hoping will become a great man. I know you became mischievous when you left. I am sure that was to garner attention. Am I right?" Naruto nodded, "so you will cut that down some now, so that I can keep the elders in line here now that word of your team will have spread."

Naruto bowed, "of course Hiashi-sama, also Kurenai Sensei told me to either quit doing it or tone it way down." Realizing he was talking in the familiar, "sir."

Hiashi laughed at Naruto's reaction. "Since my wife died and you left there has been little in this house to be happy about." Hinata turned her head in shame. "Please Naruto help Hinata become the heir she wants to be." Moving closer to Naruto's ear, "between you and me I think she will not be happy with me until she has proven herself to me and the clan." Backing away from his ear, "Hinata, Naruto, best of luck with your team and Hinata do not get in the way. Good day."

Hinata looked sad, and Naruto grabbed her hand led her away, and closed the door behind them. "He will be as proud of you as I am." He put on his biggest grin ever. She weakly smiled back at him. He grabbed his bags and started to head out. "Well I have to get home so that we can meet tomorrow for our first mission. See you tomorrow Hinata-chan."

She nearly passed out with that and unconsciously walked to her room and laid down her face beat red. The next thing she knew she woke up the next morning and went to breakfast, not even Neji's dark attitude brought her down. Hiashi could do nothing but smirk at her all morning until she left.

Naruto woke up in a good mood, he remembered the look on Hinata's face when he left, beet red and a million miles away. He was not sure why he was happy but he got cleaned up and then changed, just before he left he realized he was in the wrong clothes. He proceeded to take them off, not hearing the knock on the door. He realized something was wrong when he heard Hinata shriek. Hurriedly put on his new clothes, being beet red as he finished. He saw Hinata covering her eyes and Shino just standing there waiting shaking his head saying "we did knock."

Naruto sheepishly grinning and scratching the back of his head, "sorry forgot to put the new clothes on. Guess we can go now."

They reached the training grounds while Naruto was giving Hinata his hundredth apology. Kurenai looked on in wonder at what had happened that would have Hinata blushing and Naruto apologizing. "Ok kids, we are heading to the Hokage tower, for our first assignment. Keep in mind that they will not be glamorous at first. In fact let's hope they don't become so for awhile." She walked over to Shino and asked what was going on.

Shino simply replied "we walked in on Naruto changing. He forgot which outfit to wear." Kurenai just chuckled.

They arrived at the Hokage tower, meeting team 7. Naruto and Kiba exchanged simple hellos. Sakura gave Naruto an angry look, Sasuke, just looked indifferent. Kakashi said hello to Kurenai and Naruto, this confused Naruto. Kakashi explained "we should have lunch sometime, and I will tell you some neat stories."

Kiba leaned close to Naruto, "he will be late, and you can count on it." They both laughed, this caused Sasuke to look at them with a loathing stare.

"Ok team 7, you here is your D ranked mission. Enjoy. Team 8 here is yours." Both Sensei thanked the person giving them the mission, and headed back to their teams.

"Well good luck team 8, let's go team, we have some laundry to do." Kakashi said as he and his team left the tower.

"Ok team 8 we have to catch a cat." Kurenai explained.

About twenty minutes later Naruto was hiding behind a tree "I have target in sight." Naruto said into his radio.

Hinata about 5 meters away behind another tree, "copy, I verify visual. Wait Naruto, it is running, away… at me…" Static goes over the radio. "I have target."

Kurenai asked over the radio, "Please verify target. There should be a red bow on left ear, with the name Tora on the bow?"

"Check, bow on left ear, Tora on bow. Naruto, the cat is afraid of you stay back. S… sorry, Naruto, the cat just seems to be afraid of you…" Hinata broke in over the radio.

"Ok mission successful, head back to the tower with the cat Hinata. Shino and Naruto follow behind her and make sure the cat did not get away." Kurenai ordered over the radio. She heard a chorus of "hai" from her students. After returning the cat to the Fire Country's feudal Lord's wife, who smothered the cat with love, "good job team, we will have training session tomorrow morning. Naruto the look is good on you, the orange is interesting, but I like the blue and orange better than the previous orange only." Looking over at Hinata, "what do you think?"

Hinata blushed, "um… I like both…"

Naruto let out a laugh and nervously scratch the back of his head with his right arm. As they left the Hokage's tower Naruto noticed that he was not getting as many looks of hatred as he usually did.

Kurenai looked at her students, "you go ahead, and good job. I have to talk to someone about some training."

The three students looked at each other, not quite understanding why a Jonin would need training. "I have to admit that wasn't too bad. But when will we get a chance to prove our ninja skills?" Naruto asked.

Shino quietly answered, "When they trust us enough with the other tasks we will be given more responsibility."

Naruto nodded, "Ok. You guys want to go train some?"

Hinata responded, "S… sure Naruto-kun, that would be nice."

Shino shook his head, "I am sorry, I have prior engagements."

With that Naruto and Hinata went to training area 24, and started to spar. About ten minutes after they started Kurenai showed up. "Hello Hinata and Naruto. Where is Shino?"

Naruto replied "he had to go home, something about getting engaged."

Kurenai looked shocked but Hinata started to giggle. "He had something to do Sensei, which he had scheduled earlier." Hinata answered.

"OH!! That is what he meant. I was afraid he was going to get married or something like that." Naruto shaking his head, all Hinata could do was giggle at Naruto.

"Naruto, I have arranged for some special training for you in the morning." Naruto and Hinata looked at each other. "Now I talked this over with both your new trainer and the Hokage. The Hokage likes the idea, but it has not been done before." Naruto looked confused. "You will report to training area 36 at 6 am." Naruto's eyes went wide. "I am not much for taijutsu, but you would benefit from training with him. Now you are still my student but you will also refer to him as Sensei. Also do not, and I mean do not take any fashion tips from him, or I will send you back to the beginning of the academy and take another student." Naruto started sweating."Hinata you can join them but I am not sure you could deal with the workouts, but you can go along if you like." Hinata nodded. "Also do not burn yourself out with this training. I am also going to propose we do more missions per day. This will have two effects, one you will get more experience, and two you will be that much closer to getting better missions. And lastly it will also give you some more spending money." This brought a large smile to Naruto's face, and a smaller smile to Hinata's face. "Also Naruto, your trainer likes to use weights to help augment his training. So I advise you to head to the nice tailor we met and have him make you some leg weight holders, and possibly some bracers that can hold adjusting weight." Naruto looked confused but nodded.

The next morning Naruto was up and ready to go. He met a sleepy Hinata on the way to training area 36. They arrived just in time to see what looked like green blurs appear on the horizon and coming fast they stopped right in front of a startled Naruto and Hinata. They appear to be in a full green spandex suit, a bowl cut and huge eyebrows. The older and taller one was wearing a Chunin vest. He addressed them, "You must be Naruto and Hinata. I can tell you have the power of youth." Looking at Hinata, "your cousin is on my squad, but I will not tell him you are here." He gave thumbs up and glistening smile. "I hear you want to learn taijutsu. Or at least Kurenai wants you to improve on what you have, "looking at Naruto, "to become proficient at it. It will take a lot of hard work sweat, and pain to become excellent at it. Right Lee?"

The other bowl cut figure stood at attention, "yes Gai Sensei!!"

"I would like you to spar with Naruto, go easy at first so I can gauge his abilities."

Lee bowed and moved to a fighting stance, "come Naruto, let the fires of youth guide us!" Naruto noticed one thing about Lee had a smile the whole time and did not change. It looked like he was a happy and nice person.

Naruto took up a stance and started to attack Lee, the spar went on for ten minutes. Naruto did not land a blow until the very end, by landing on Lee's head. Gai then called a stop to the spar. "Naruto, your stance is poor, your footwork needs work." Naruto looked depressed."But I see huge potential in you. You have stamina, you are creative, and you do not seem to want to give up. Not nearly as much potential as in Lee, but he is dedicated to taijutsu." Naruto looked very confused but happy. "Naruto, I can train you if you are willing. As I said you have great stamina, maybe even more than my beloved pupil." Lee started to look depressed."Lee don't despair, for Naruto may even have more stamina than most Jonin." Both Naruto and Lee perked up at that.

"What do you mean Gai Sensei?" Lee asked.

"I cannot say, but if Naruto is willing he can elaborate. If not that is fine also." Gai exclaimed.

Naruto looked dejected. "I would rather not discuss it at this time Sensei, maybe later." Hinata's heart sunk as she remembered what Mizuki had said, but she did not believe he was the demon, he was Naruto.

"As you wish young Naruto. I can understand why you feel that way. I will leave the subject up to you. As for your taijutsu. I want to you get some weight holders for yourself. We will be using them to increase your speed, strength and stamina. Young Hinata you can also do this with us, it would be good to have a surprise on my other student who does not think that hard work can bring you success." Hinata nodded her head. "We will start by Naruto and Hinata sparing while Lee and I spar. When Hinata tires we will move to Lee and Naruto, we'll go for an hour."

The sparing lasted for about thirty minutes before Hinata started to tire, remembering Kurenai order to not overdo it she said she was done. She noticed that Naruto did was not even winded yet even though he was losing the spar. She also noticed that when she scored on him he would smile, yes smile not get mad at her. He would not correct her. He would even give her encouragement when she got a good hit on him. "Wow Hinata that was a great hit. Let's go again." This made happy and wondered why his style was so poor. Then she realized that no one would spar with him in the academy if they did not have too. She would have if they would have let the girls and boys do co-ed sparing.

So Naruto and Lee went at it. Near the forty-five minute mark Naruto was starting to land some blows, Lee was staring to get winded and sweating very profusely. Naruto on the other hand was sweating and only lightly winded. After the hour, Naruto was starting to get winded. Gai eventually decided to stop the sparing and work on form for the next hour. This would have made Naruto bored if it weren't for Gai, giving him complete attention in correcting his form and stance. Hinata watched happily as Naruto got attention without any of the usual stigma that he always seemed to receive, she knew that carrying the Kyubi hurt him but she was not sure how to help.

Lee was doing other exercises while Gai was working with Naruto. Hinata watched Naruto while working on her stance and doing some kata. After the hour of honing his stance Gai had Naruto and Lee spar again, there was a dramatic improvement in Naruto's fighting, while he was not able to land any hits on Lee he was able to block more of Lee's attacks. About ten they finished training, Naruto and Hinata thanked Gai and Lee for their help. Gai suggested some places to pick up the training weights so they would have them tomorrow. Naruto informed Gai he had already ordered some late yesterday and should be ready today. He also asked how much he should put in them. Gai replied that they would figure it out tomorrow morning but just bring them.

Naruto and Hinata left the training area and went into town and got the training weights per Gai's instruction. They took them home so they would have them for the next day's training. They stopped and had a small snack to maintain energy. They met with Kurenai and Shino at the training field, and then headed to the Hokage's tower for a new mission. They were able to complete two missions quickly and they then had the rest of the day to train and to themselves.

Hinata and Naruto talked for hours that day, well Naruto talked and Hinata listened. The subject included his pranks, who he pulled pranks on and the like. He also covered how he setup the pranks. This kept Hinata either laughing or giggling at the lengths he would go to just to make sure the prank succeeded and no one would get hurt.

The next day Gai showed them how the weight were used and how they would be adding progressively to them over time. The morning training went well. Both Naruto and Hinata were more tired than yesterday but felt good about what they accomplished. Gai also told them to not take the weights off other than to bathing this would help them become accustom to the weights more quickly.

Hinata's confidence continued to grow with the daily training, as did Naruto's skill. That was until about a month later Hanabi challenged Hinata to a bout after she had gotten home after an exhausting training round. Hinata had also just added weights to her training bands and was slower than she thought. Hanabi took advantage of this and brutally beat her.

Warned you about this Muhahahahaha!!

Hope you enjoy.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I only claim that I own the idea behind the ending of this which is a long ways off... enjoy...

Chapter 11 – Secret revealed

(Recap)

Hinata's confidence continued to grow with the daily training, as did Naruto's skill. That was until about a month later Hanabi challenged Hinata to a bout after she had gotten home after an exhausting training round. Hinata had also just added weights to her training bands and was slower than she thought. Hanabi took advantage of this and brutally beat her.

(End recap)

Naruto had just arrived after forgetting something and found Hanabi attacking an unconscious Hinata under the eyes of an elder and Neji. He quickly intervened taking quite a beating himself. He then took her to the hospital. She woke up seeing Naruto holding her hand and staring at her with a worried look on his face.

"Hinata… are you ok? You had me worried there…" He quietly said. His speaking brought the others in the room to see that Hinata had woken up. "If I had not gotten there when I did…" He broke down and tear streamed from his eyes, he buried his face in the sheets on the side of the bed.

Kurenai look at her with concern. "Hinata are you feeling better now?"

Hinata looked at Naruto tear welling up in her eyes then turned to Kurenai. "I hurt but otherwise I think I am ok."

"Apparently your sister, was still hitting you when Naruto arrived, you were unconscious at the time." Shino said frankly. "Naruto was able to stop her but he was also injured." Hinata gasped, not only was Hanabi attacking her after winning the match she also attacked Naruto. She then noticed he was also in a hospital gown. "He had several ruptured organs and but was able to get you here before collapsing. Apparently he is in better condition than you." Shino raised an eyebrow, "he heals very quickly. They say he will be ready for duty tomorrow. You also heal very quickly, not as well as Naruto. They said you should have died from your injuries. But will be able to leave in a couple days."

Several things shocked Hinata. One Hinabi's attack was so brutal that it should have killed her. Naruto defended her to the point of nearly being killed, and had the stamina to take her to the hospital. Both she and Naruto were healing at astonishing rates. She started to cry, feeling overwhelmed. Naruto looked up at her and she grabbed him in a hug not wanting to let go. He had again saved her. How could she be so weak?

Kurenai smiled and put a hand on Shino's shoulder guiding him out. Outside was she saw Hiashi, walking up to him full of anger. "How do you… How do you defend your other daughter nearly killing two of my students, and one for trying to defend the other? They both nearly died." She moved closer to his ear, "and without the Kyubi he would not have made it here. Do you realize this?"

Hiashi pointed to a side room. "Please come with me. We have some things to discuss." They entered the room and closed the door. Hiashi took a deep breath. "Naruto is not the only one who has a sealed entity in them." Kurenai looked shocked. "Hanabi has been disciplined and will not have matches with Hinata without proper supervision. As for Hinata, she had something sealed in her just before they attempted to abduct her when she was three. We think it was a minor fox demon but we cannot be sure as the only thing we had was a fox statue that was broken in her room. This information is not known, not even within the clan. As far as Naruto goes… I trust him with my daughter's life. When I entrusted Hinata to you years ago, there were several concerns that I had. The clan was pressuring me to improve her at all costs, including her life. So if I sounded harsh then I apologize, it was for Hanabi and the clan elders to hear. Honestly since she has been on your team she has been improving steadily, but the elders are not seeing enough improvement. Hanabi I am sure is being pushed by the elders. Do you have any questions?"

Kurenai was just flattened by the frank honest response she had just heard from the leader of the Hyuga clan. "Why was Hanabi so cruel to Hinata? She could have killed her. From what I heard from the doctors and my other student, Shino, the spirit sealed in Hinata is healing her just as the Kyubi is Naruto. I as their teacher would not ask them to rely on that type of power to save them. As it could fail or they become so used to it working that they take unreasonable risks and die from arrogance."

Hiashi hung his head. "Hanabi was not raised with her mother, and resents Hinata for knowing her at least some, and Naruto also knew her. The elders are also poisoning her mind with her superiority and pushing her to see Hinata as an enemy. I am doing what I can to fix this but it is not easy. The problem I have noticed in the matches is that Hinata is not able to bring herself to hurt Hanabi. As before I leave Hinata in your care, please discuss this with no one as it will cause more problems right now."

They both left the room in silence. Waiting outside the room were Kakashi, Sakura, and Kiba. Kakashi looked as Kurenai. "Sorry to hear your students were hurt, I came to see how Naruto is doing. He and Hinata seem a little indisposed at the moment. You appear to have a good team that cares for one another."

Sakura looking down, "I came to see how Hinata and Naruto are doing. And apologize to Naruto. I hit him the other day for no reason."

"I came to rub it in that Naruto got his butt kicked by a kid." Kiba jokingly explained, as Kurenai knew that Kiba and Naruto were friends, one of the few he did have.

They opened the door at Kakashi's insistence. Naruto and Hinata were at her bed, they were still holding hands, both with red puffy eyes. At seeing the others Naruto immediately put on a smile. "Hi you guys! What is up?"

Sakura walked forward and handed some flowers to Hinata, and turned to Naruto. "I am sorry for hitting you the other day. I had no reason to, I was just frustrated and needed to vent. I know I should not have taken it out on you." She bowed to him.

Naruto lost his smile and looked to the side. "It's ok Sakura… Just please only hit me if I deserve it." The smile returned to his face, while scratching the back of his head. "Heaven knows I make a fool of myself too often." Hinata giggled at his statement.

"How are you doing Naruto?" Kiba asked with a concerned look on his face.

Naruto got a grimaced look on his face. "Well my pride is shot. I got beaten to a pulp by a seven year old." Both he and Kiba laughed. "Otherwise I am doing pretty good, and I will be out tomorrow. The great news is that Hinata will be out the next day." He squeezed her hand, which she returned. "Oh, Kurenai Sensei, did you let Gai Sensei know?" Kurenai nodded. Kakashi looked at Naruto and then at Kurenai.

"Well Naruto, as usual you are full of surprises. I won't even ask how you know Gai. I am glad to hear you are doing better, both you and Hinata. And by the way Naruto, the Gentle Fist style is a devastating style to be attacked by. Next time I would avoid it if at all possible. Well, my team has to go, come on Sakura, Kiba. We have some training to do." With that the three of them left, leaving Kurenai, Hinata and Naruto.

"Ok kids. You guys heal up and we will have a light training session in two days, but be ready to work after that. I will see you then." Both nodded in agreement.

"Sorry Hinata…" Naruto again looked sad.

"W… What? Why are you sorry Naruto-kun?"

"Well for a couple reasons. First, I was not able to stop Hanabi from hurting you. I failed in protecting you. If you are mad at me and don't want to talk to me again I would understand."

Hinata shook her head. "You brought me here even though you were severely injured. How can I be mad at you? And the second reason is?"

Scratching the back of his head, "Well… I got your sheets soaking wet from crying." They both laughed at that even though it hurt to laugh. "I am going to go rest a little. You want the drapes drawn in between our beds?" She shook her head no. As he crawled into bed and lay down she blushed and then giggled. She noticed that he was wearing boxers with ramen on them.

She lay back on the bed thinking. 'He has saved me again, I care deeply for him. More so than I can explain, I never want to be away from him. He gives me strength. But I need to become stronger.'

Naruto lay back on his bed trying to think. 'I know the Gentle Fist was strong, but man. It felt like she took my arm and body out of commission. I wonder… Should I tell her? How would she react? She is my friend after all.' Naruto stared at Hinata who looked away from him while blushing. 'That is so cute the way she blushes.' A stern look crosses Naruto's face. "Hinata" he says softly.

She turns to him with a worried look on her face. "Yes Naruto-kun?"

"I am sorry about something else." A look of shock appeared on her face. "I have a secret…" Raising his hand to forestall any comment from her, "I know why almost everyone hates me. I should have told you when I found out. But I was not sure how you would react." Her face became impassive, and she just nodded, so he continued. "You know the story from twelve years ago?" She nodded. "When the Kyubi attacked the Fourth killed it?" She nodded knowing what was coming next she tried to stifle the tears in the corner of her eyes. "Well he was not able to kill it." He looked at her but was surprised that she did not have a shocked look but one of being ready to cry, sympathy and concern were written all over her face. She still said nothing, so he continued.

"Well no one can kill a beast as strong as the Kyubi. So he sealed it in an infant." Looking at her he saw tears streaming from her eyes, he felt them coming from his own as his vision blurred. "That infant was… me." He turned away, feeling the hot burning tears running down his face, just waiting for her to reject him. "I understand if you hate me, and no longer want to be around me."

There was silence for a minute, he then heard soft crying. He turned to see Hinata crying into her hands. This continued for a few minutes, her sobbing slowed. "Oh… Naruto… I could never hate you. I… I…" she started to cry even harder, turning buried her head in her pillow and continued to cry. 'Why can't I tell him how I feel? I am so weak.'

Naruto was stunned, he had just revealed earth shattering information to her and she was the one who seemed to be in pain. He got out of his bed and walked over to her side saying "I'm sorry" repeatedly. He tried to reach out to touch her shoulder but could not raise his arms, he wanted to comfort her, but could not. He lowered his head in shame, as he could not even comfort his friend, his very first friend. Tear continued to roll off his cheeks. He did not understand how he could cry so much. Finally after a few minutes he was able to raise one hand and touch her shoulder. He expected it to be slapped away after all he was the container for the Kyubi and should be reviled. But what happened next stopped him full in his tracks. Instead of slapping his hand she reached up and pulled him to her, burying her head in his chest still crying.

He finally heard her voice, quiet and sincere. "It is ok, I know. I could never hate you."

He smiled, and started to cry tears of joy. "Thank you Hinata."

They stayed that way for an hour. When Naruto finally noticed that Hinata had stopped crying and was not moving, he pulled her a little bit away from his chest and noticed that she was asleep. He also noticed she had a beautiful face. He laid her down on her pillow gently. He then walked back to his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"Good morning kids." Exclaimed the Nurse as she woke both Naruto and Hinata. Hinata looked over at Naruto wanting to talk to him about what they were talking about yesterday but did not want to push it more. "Are you both ready for breakfast? I understand young man you are to be release later today. Is that right?" Naruto nodded. She smiled and pinched his cheek, "I am glad to hear it, and you didn't even try to escape like you usually do." Hinata looked very surprised. Naruto chuckled. "You're a very lucky girl." Looking directly at Hinata. "Having such a handsome guardian." Naruto smiled, blushed and scratched the back of his head. Hinata just blushed, three shades of red. The nurse put a tray in front of each of them, "now eat and get your strength back."

Naruto lifted the lid for the food. A look of almost disgust crossed his face. "How am I supposed to regain my strength if I can't even tell what it is you're feeding me?" Snickering at the nurse, "are you sure it isn't poisoned?" With that comment she swatted him lightly on the head. Eliciting an "ouch" and chuckle from both of them.

Hinata realize this nurse was someone that Naruto trusted, thus the reason for the playful banter. It brought a smile to her face and a small laugh from her. Both turned to see Hinata laughing lightly at their antics. 'I am glad there are some like Kurenai, Kakashi, and this nurse who appreciate Naruto.'

They started to eat. Hospital food was nutritious but not the most flavorful. After the nurse left with a pat on Naruto head and a wink at Hinata, Naruto put his chopsticks down. "Hinata?" She looked at him, his look was serious. "Do you remember what we talked about last night?" She nodded yes as tears again started to well in her eyes. "I just wanted you to know why they hate me and wanted to make sure you would not be angry at me or hate me for it. I have been hated for so long and didn't know why. I only found out…"

"From Mizuki Sensei," Hinata finished his sentence.

He looked at her seeing her with tears welling in her eyes. "H… How… How did you know?" Was all Naruto could ask.

She had to tell him at least this, if not her feelings. "I was so sad that you failed that I looked for you, there was something I wanted to tell… you." The last word came out as a whisper. Gathering her strength, "I found you near the shack, I was about to approach you then I saw the scroll." Naruto turned his head in shame. "I figured you had a reason for it. So I let you try to train with the scroll. I saw how hard you worked to get the jutsu to work. After you were able to do it a couple times successfully Iruka Sensei showed up. I saw the fight, and how he protected you. I was happy to see someone else cared about you. I heard Mizuki Sensei call you the Kyubi, and his explanation about it. At first I could not believe that you were the Kyubi, but it explained so much about how you were treated." Naruto felt like his heart was going to fall out of him. "But then I realized you are not a monster. You pulled pranks, more for attention than anything. And who could not forgive you for how harshly, my clan threw you out." At that she turned in shame, and tears were falling free.

"I know you were… are not a monster, as no one was ever hurt by what you did and how you were always nice to me. The weakling of the Hyuga clan." She raised her hand to stop him from talking. "I watched the battle." She turned back to him, still having tears, but with a smile on her face. "I saw you repeat the jutsu, the Kage Bunshin, but to such a large extent I was floored. I saw you defend Iruka Sensei, and stop Mizuki Sensei."

She paused trying to collect herself. "I left then and said my good bye to you as I could not face you. As I would not see you any more, I was crushed. But the next morning I went to the academy and was so happy to see that Iruka Sensei had passed you. I figured it was from being able to use that jutsu that he passed you. I was afraid to tell you that I knew your secret, fearing that you would be mad at me and not want to have anything to do with me. When we were selected for the same I team I was elated. Please don't be mad at me for not telling you before."

Naruto chuckled. "Hinata. How can I be mad at the one person who was my friend before I could remember? As for not telling me, I was the one with the secret, not you. It means a lot to me that you did not say anything. I know the adults know but I don't think that anyone our age knows."

A/N: Thanks for the reviews Chewie: feel better now. Hanabi did do a number on Hinata but did not kill her, close but no go... Also blame the council not Hanabi she is only seven and is taking direction from an elder and we are told to listen to our elders... :D

Dragonchips: Babies... that is a good one, that would be around chapter 150 or so if not later ;) He still has to win the girl save the day and be home by his curfew... wait he has no curfew... Oh well enjoy... there is more to come.

Truths revealed and life goes on. Truth be know I like happy endings. Keep the reviews coming. Any constructive cretiques would be nice. As I have stated before I have around 18 chapters I have written so far. I am cleaning them up before posting and trying to keep them to around 2k-3k words per chapter. Chapter 10 and 11 were one to begin with so I found a good place to break them and create a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoy this next installment.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Who doesn't own Naruto? Me...

Chapter 12 – More secrets

The door opens and Hiashi enters. He closes the door. "How is the food? Ok?" Both nod and started to eat again. "Naruto, what I am about to tell you will not leave this room." Naruto looks at Hiashi and nods. "Have you told Hinata about your secret?" Naruto looked surprised but nodded yes. "I know that you know you contain the Kyubi. And yes I said contain. I want you to protect my daughter. Can you do that?" Naruto again nods. "Also there is something you both should know." He looks at the children as they both swallow hard. "Naruto you have a demon sealed in you. But you are not the only one." Naruto looks at him confused. Hiashi looks at Hinata. She starts to have an utter feeling of terror which was showing on her face. "Naruto, if you would please pull your gown up off your stomach and mold some chakra," Naruto complied. A seal appeared on his stomach. Looking at Hinata, "will you please do the same?" Modest as always she was at first nervous and did not want too. "Hinata please?"

She carefully shifted the sheets and the gown to only show her stomach, she then molded some chakra. A seal similar but different appeared on her stomach. She immediately passed out with an "Eep!"

Hiashi smiled at his daughter passing out, he then turned to Naruto. "You will keep her secret, won't you?" Naruto nodded. "You can pass along your secret to whoever you want, as can Hinata, but I would prefer that as few as possible know about her secret. I am in some ways thankful both of you are demon containers." This statement confused Naruto, evident by the look on his face. "Hanabi would have killed you both if you could not heal as you do. The Kyubi is the strongest of the demons, thus the reason you heal faster than my daughter. I do apologize for how my clan has treated you. It was never my intension to hurt you. I looked at you as almost a son. But I have to go deal with the elders and Hanabi, both of which are going to be disciplined." Naruto winced at the thought of Hiashi disciplining the clan council and Hanabi. As Hiashi left he smiled at Naruto.

Naruto was released around noon that day and spend several more hours talking to Hinata about them sharing seals. He stayed and they continued to discuss anything that might come from having demons sealed with in them. Hinata proposed that the fox in him may be partly to blame for his antic, but most of the blame was leveled at the citizens of Konoha and the Hyuga clan council. She also found out that much of the branch family liked Naruto but would not tell either the council or the main family. Naruto went home fairly happy that night and slept fairly well.

The next morning training with Lee and Gai was light. Gai asked all types of questions dealing with the attack. Most were in how the attacks appeared to work and the like. Naruto did not feel like he was being put down for losing a fight to Hanabi. Afterwards he returned to the hospital to help Hinata check out of the hospital. They traveled around town for most of the day. They again discussed the idea of both of them carrying demons. Hinata told Naruto that they should tell Shino and Kurenai. He smiled with a fox like grin. "We can tell them but I want to have some fun first." Hinata was not sure she liked the sound of what was coming. She listened intently and then she agreed it might be fun.

The next day's morning training with Gai was more intense but still light for Hinata. Naruto seems to have fully recovered.

Kurenai and Shino were waiting for their teammates in area 24. They saw a couple walking towards them in green spandex. One was blond with a bowl cut the other was wearing a green jacket and a bowl cut, also appeared to be female. Kurenai thought 'I hope that is not who I think it might be.'

Naruto and Hinata walked up to Kurenai and Shino. Both wearing near skin tight green spandex uniform that Gai and Lee were famous for wearing, all Kurenai could do is shake her head. "I am going to kill Gai." Kurenai said with venom in her voice.

Naruto burst out laughing and broke the transformation as did Hinata. Both were wearing their usual clothes and haircuts. "See I told you it would drive her crazy." He said while still laughing.

Hinata was giggling "sorry Sensei. But Naruto did not prank the village at least. I figured it was a fair compromise."

Kurenai nodded. "Ok you two. That was a good prank. And Hinata for you to go along with it, I am impressed."

Naruto got a serious look on his face. "We have some things we need to discuss."

Kurenai, "you mean you are going to discuss it with the team?" Causing Shino to raise an eyebrow.

"I have to tell you that I am the container of the Kyubi." Naruto exclaimed.

"That goes along with what I have been able to figure out. Given your date of birth, the way the village for the most part treats you and why you have such a ridiculous amount of chakra. And I have no problem with it. As thus far you have proven to be an asset and a loyal teammate." Shino bluntly commented. This somewhat surprised Naruto, he knew the bug user would have an easier time than most in understanding, but not how easily and quickly he just accepted it.

Hinata was looking down the whole time, she then spoke up. "Um… I am also a container. Please tell no one." This news made Shino raise an eyebrow. "I did not know until yesterday. While mine is not as strong as Naruto's, I do have better than normal healing. Please do not be mad at me."

"Hinata, we cannot be mad at you for what you are. You have no control on what you are but we know who you are and are not worried." Kurenai explained as Shino nodded. "We are a team and need to know the strengths and weakness of each other so we can use our strengths to cover our weaknesses. There are two reasons for this. One, so we can help sure up those weaknesses. And two to find our strengths so that we can use them better at a team. Also when we know a weakness we can work to improve upon it so it will no longer be a weakness. I am pleased I have two very brave students and one very supportive one."

"Speaking of strengths, Naruto do you know why that henge worked so well?" Naruto shook his head but had huge grin on his face. "Well, first you did a good job with them, and second I was afraid it would happen. Being good with genjutsu I should have seen it come a mile away. But you were able to fool me. I compliment you both on being able to do that. This is one of the reasons I wanted you for my squad. You might be able to find a weakness in an enemy and exploit it so that we better able to complete our missions."

"Now for each of the areas you will be working on. Hinata you are going to be the one who covers us with your vision. Shino will be our second set of eyes and ears, and first picket with your insects. Naruto you will be the one who helps us escape." Naruto looked confused. "Naruto you can use your Kage Bunshin to delay the enemy, additional scouting and helping us all escape, as we are a scouting team. And information is power and that can decide battle more than a bunch of jutsu. Naruto we need your abilities to delay or at worst pull us out of a fight. That is why I have had you working with Gai. Hinata working with Gai is also good as long as she does not change styles, unless he can work in a style that will compliment it or can be used when you are low on chakra. Her Gentle Fist style will help us capture or take down enemies that you and or Shino have damaged or injured. Each of you has a role to play on this team. Any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand. "Um, Sensei. How do shadow clones help in that regard?"

"Good question Naruto. First shadow clones are expendable, unlike the members of the team. Also they can be extra eyes. And in mass they can take out several enemies or possibly damage or at least distract a powerful enemy. Also they have a special ability. Have you noticed?" Naruto shook his head no. "Send a shadow clone in to the forest with me." Naruto made a shadow clone and sent it with Kurenai. They returned a couple minutes later. "Naruto do you know what my favorite color is?" Naruto shook his head no. "Disperse the clone and then tell me if you know my favorite color" The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto acted as if he had been hit. "Actually you like red and black." Naruto stated. "Hey how did I know that?"

Kurenai smiled "I told the clone it. The other secret is that a shadow clone will send what it learns back to you when it is dispersed or is destroyed. Your clones can also be an important scouting tool. But there is a reason why this is called a forbidden jutsu. First you divide you chakra evenly over the clones, this can cause a problem in itself if you do not have good reserves. Second you will get the memories of your clones and can use the information. This is a double edged sword though. When a clone dies you will experience what death feels like. Not everyone can handle this. Now on to better and brighter subjects. So how would each of your skills be put to the best use in a situation where we are to cross the border and enter a hostile town?"

The discussion moved on to tactics and how they would approach certain situation. This continued until late in the evening. Kurenai took them out to dinner for more discussion. They all went home late that night.

The next day they again got to chase Sora the cat into Hinata's arms. This time Shino put a female bug on the cat so it would be easier to find next time. The second mission for the day included weeding a garden that was for the local herbalist. To everyone's surprise Naruto pointed out some rare plants that the herbalist thought were just weeds. This got the team a recommendation and especially one for Naruto whom she would request more often as she found odd jobs to do. Naruto had found a new friend and person who trusted him.

After a regular practice afternoon, there was suddenly an explosion. Kurenai had already left with Asuma. A ninja was being followed by several ANBU one was injured. The three genin looked at each other. Naruto created about 50 shadow clones and headed towards the fleeing ninja. Shino and Hinata took off farther down the street. Naruto and his clones intercepted the ninja. The ninja immediately took out 5 clones before Naruto hit him with a shuriken. The ninja was then pissed and threw several explosive tagged kunai at the Naruto and his clones. All the clones were destroyed in the blasts. Naruto hit a roof hard, leaving a smoking trail as he hit. One of the ANBU diverted to check on him but continued when he gave the thumbs up signal to him. The foreign ninja was sporting several injuries from Naruto and seemed to be slowing down and also seemed not able to jump as far as he did before. He jumped down to the street level and felt his strength leaving him. Not sure why he rounded a corner only to find a small girl with lavender eyes and black hair standing before him. She was in an unusual taijutsu stance. He smiled and walked forward in a threatening manner. Hinata struck him in several points and his legs collapsed beneath him, and his arms fell useless.

The ANBU caught up to the foreign ninja, "take your team to the tower, one of us will meet you there. Also pick up Naruto, I think he caught part of one of the blasts and might be injured." With this news to Hinata who bowed and jumped up to the roof as steady stream of beetles scurried away from the captured ninja.

Hinata and Shino found Naruto picking himself up off a roof, covered in soot and clothes torn. "So did we get him?"

Hinata slapped him on the arm, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't scare me like that."

Scratching his head, "sorry Hinata, I'll try to be more careful next time."

"We are to head to the Hokage's tower." Shino stated bluntly. With that comment Naruto brushed himself off and they then headed to the Hokage's tower. They were met along the way by Asuma and Kurenai.

"Should I even ask?" Asuma questioned. Naruto looking like he had been blown up which was nearly the case just shook his head no.

Naruto winced as he entered the Hokage's office fearing he was going to be yelled at. Sarutobi looked at the boy and chuckled. "So I am to assume that you three apprehended the escaping Chunin?" All three nodded yes. Asuma and Kurenai looked at them wondering what was going on. "Ok, for helping ANBU capture the foreign ninja, a C rank mission will be recorded in your records, and you will all be paid accordingly. Kurenai, I am impressed with your team, and their teamwork. They as a group took down a high level Chunin, who was on a spy mission and took some secret documents. I am to assume they did so without your order or consideration?"

Kurenai nodded yes. "Well then," Sarutobi continued, "while I do not approve of your actions team 8. You have my thanks, and the village's thanks for saving the documents from falling into the wrong hands. I have also talked to the ANBU pursuers. They were impressed with your tactics, and selflessness. You especially Naruto, he said you saw that you are going to be in the center of an explosion and switched with one of your clones at the edge of the blast radius. Very commendable, but somewhat reckless, I would advise trying not to be near the explosion next time." Naruto nodded, looking sheepishly at Hinata. Naruto mouthed the word sorry to Hinata, who nodded and smiled at him.

The next day Kurenai, both commended them and scolded them for taking on a situation that they had no idea what was going on. Later they had guests for genjutsu training as was the agreement with Gai. Lee and Tenten are the guests, as Neji seemed not to be worried about genjutsu as he had his Byakugan. Kurenai discussed the basics of genjutsu. She talked about how to notice genjutsu and how to break them. The easiest way was of course was to bring your chakra to a halt temporarily. This would break the genjutsu which was foreign chakra whose purpose was to fool the one who is under it. A second way was for another person to inject their chakra into someone under the genjutsu. Again this is done to disrupt chakra flow and dispel the genjutsu. The third and hardest was the chakra pulse.

Kurenai explains it "This is done by compressing a ball of chakra inside yourself and then releasing it all at once." While Naruto was not so good at the first two, everyone was surprised when he tried the third way. When he released it almost had physical substance, it started a wind spread out from there and eventually encompassed about half the village. Kurenai explained that because Naruto had lots of chakra he would release more. She also finished the lesson and reported to the Hokage soon afterwards. The incident was blamed on a jutsu gone wrong. Kurenai was pleased that her students were starting to progress, even if it made a few inconveniences for some who were using genjutsu to hide physical imperfections.

A/N: Yes the chakra pulse was borrowed from S'TarKan from the Team 8 story. If you see any more similarities let me know as that was the only thing I borrowed as I had this chapter mostly written before I read that story. But I do recomend that story hopefully he will update it soon.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: You know the drill so I do not have to say anything.

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Chapter 13 – Off to play with water

News of their work had spread and more people were smiling at Naruto than looking at him with hatred. Training and missions continued for a couple more days. They were then called back to the Hokage's tower for a rescue mission. It appears that team 7 was sent to the wave country and ran into more problems than they expected. Team 7 appears to have continued anyways.

Team 8 quickly packed and headed out to catch up with team 7, who had a week's head start. They moved as quickly as they could, trying to catch up with the other team trying to make sure they were not too late to help them. They made it to the coast and were able to find passage to the land of waves. As they headed to Tazuna's house they found the sight of a huge battle a partially drained pond and an area devastated by water. They found the house and knocked on the door. Kiba answered. "Good to see a friendly face. Come in Kakashi is under the weather. And Sensei we met Zabuza." Kurenai entered quickly and found Kakashi. They talked for a little bit until Kakashi passed out from exhaustion.

"Ok everyone we have some training to do." Kurenai saying this got all of their attention. "We need to head out and work on chakra control." She led them out to an open area with several trees. "Ok we are going to learn how to climb trees. And before you complain, this will help you learn chakra control. Let me demonstrate."

"How will chakra control help us in fighting Zabuza?" Kiba asked.

"So far you have been guessing how to use chakra. Learning to control it will make it easier and less wasteful for you and as you become more accustom to how much chakra a jutsu uses you will be more efficient with it and have more in the long run even if you cannot build up larger reserves. So watch what I do and try to repeat it. Gather chakra into the soles of your feet so that you will stick to the tree with your feet. As the feet are the hardest place to use and control chakra, this is why I am choosing the feet." She gathered chakra in her feet and proceeded to walk up the tree.

After the explanation only Sakura and Hinata were able to climb the tree the first time. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba were able to go about 3 meters up the tree with Sasuke going the farthest. Shino was able to go farthest of the boys on their second try. After showing they had mastered it Sakura and Hinata watched the boys struggle. Naruto got an idea and walked over to the girls and asked a few questions. This surprised Sakura, thinking he was an idiot who would not ask questions because he was too full of himself. He patiently asked questions and attentively listened to the answers.

With the answers he headed back to his tree, and started to climb, he made it to the same level as Sasuke on his first try. Kiba walked over to Naruto and asked him if there was a secret. Sasuke walked over and told him he would also like to know. By this time Shino had the hang of it. Naruto sighed, and then proceeded to tell them what the girls had told him. They took the information and started to increase the height they were able to climb. Hinata and Sakura left to spar with each other. Kurenai was impressed with their improvement.

Sasuke and Kiba seemed to have the easiest time learning from the information. While Naruto gained ground on tree he still had a problem with getting mix of chakra correct. He stayed until late at night. Returning to Tazuna's house late and then he was offered food which he gladly took. Waking up the next day the boys went back to the tree climbing lesson. The girls went on guard duty watching Tazuna, while Shino guarded the house.

Naruto finally got the idea of how to control his chakra on the third day. Sasuke still had a problem but had it mostly under control at the end of the third day as did Kiba. Kiba and Naruto spared for the next two days. Also Hinata spared with him later in the day. Naruto stayed and spared with his clones late into the evening, finally collapsing from exhaustion. He woke up in the morning seeing a beautiful girl walking towards him, the girl smelled funny but he could not place it.

"Good morning." The girl said.

Naruto scratching his head "morning, what are you doing out here."

"I am collecting herbs. Would you like to help me?" Naruto nodded. "What are you doing out here?"

"I am training to become strong."

"May I ask you a question?" Naruto nodded. "Do you have someone precious? Someone you would lay down your life for?" Naruto thought of Hinata, Shino, Kurenai, Kakashi, and even Sasuke.

Naruto nodded "yes there are people are precious to me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am going to become Hokage, leader of the village hidden in the leaves. It was nice to meet you pretty lady."

"Naruto, you will become strong, very strong. Also I am a boy. By the way my name is Haku. Good bye Naruto, we shall meet again." Haku said as he started to walk away.

"I know you are not a boy and I also know that this will not end well for you and Zabuza?" This comment stopped Haku in his tracks. "Yes I know you had to be the ninja helping Zabuza. Gato will betray you."

"How do you know that?" Haku asked. "And how do you know about Zabuza?"

"Well lucky guess I guess on the girl part." Naruto grins as he answers. "But with Gato I have heard what he does to those who fail him and those who do gain too much power working for him. They seem to disappear at least that is what both my Sensei says. I don't want to fight you Haku. Come back with us to Konoha, you can have a better life than running. If nothing think about it, and tell Zabuza about what I have said. Also I can see the loneliness in your eyes. For I know how it is to be lonely. If you will let me I would like to be your friend. You can decide on it, I will see you later."

Haku smiles, "I would like that, but be assured I will protect Zabuza, as he is precious to me."

Naruto nods, "Yah, I understand. We both will do what we need to do. I will try to go easy on him." Naruto chuckled, causing Haku to smile. "See you soon."

Haku waved as he left. 'I like you Naruto. I hope we can be friends.'

The next day Kiba and Naruto are left to protect Tazuna's family. They quickly dispatch the two samurai sent to attack the house and told Tsunami and Inari to go to a neighbor's house. They then head to the bridge.

At the bridge the six found a scene where all of the workers were either unconscious or dead. The Genin surround Tazuna. Suddenly they were surrounded by a dozen clones of Zabuza. Sasuke dispatched of ten of the clones while Hinata took out two. "Is this your doing Zabuza?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes Kakashi it is." Looking at Haku "looks like you have a rival, in that boy Haku." Haku nodded.

"I shall take him out then." Haku commented. He started to spin and head towards Sasuke. Sasuke watched Haku, then with a quick kick sent him flying back towards Zabuza. "He is good."

"I will handle the boy, Kakashi you can have Zabuza." Sasuke said as he ran towards Haku. Sakura was thinking 'You are so cool Sasuke.'

"Are you sure he should go off alone?" Kurenai asked Kakashi.

"He will be ok, and if he gets in too deep we can have one of your students help." Kakashi answered.

Zabuza moved towards Kakashi, suddenly a couple of shapes attempted to attack Tazuna, causing Zabuza to chuckle. "You think I would come alone when I know you had been reinforced?"

Shino and Hinata worked at keeping the new ninjas at bay. Sakura kept close to Tazuna. Sasuke seemed to be getting the upper hand until he slid on a patch of ice. 'I must end this' Haku thought. Making several hand signs with only a single hand, he said "Crystal Ice Mirrors!" A dome of mirrors made of ice started to form and surround Sasuke. Kurenai started to run towards Sasuke but was stopped by another ninja.

Kakashi attempted to move but was stopped dead as Zabuza commented "let them go at it for a little bit. We can see how they do. If you do try to go I will kill the bridge builder."

Sasuke looked around the dome 'how do I break this, I am guessing this not normal ice.' He suddenly saw Haku in every mirror around him. He threw a shuriken at one of the mirrors and it just bounced off. 'Well that was effective.' Suddenly Haku was attacking from every angle. All he could do was block his vial areas. 'Ok, let's see. Could he be using clones? No, the attacks are coming from all directions and clones attacks would not hurt me.'

"If you are thinking they are clones you would be wrong. For I am attacking you from all the mirrors," Haku answered Sasuke's mental question. This attack and banter went on for another five minutes.

Sasuke having had enough made several hand sign 'I am going to break out of here, Fireball jutsu.' Creating a fireball that hit one of the mirrors, appearing to start to melt it but it would just refreeze as it melted. 'Well I can't break out that way.'

"Sasuke catch!" Sakura yelled throwing an extra kunai to Sasuke in the ice dome. Haku intercepted it, turning it from a catch hold to an attack hold looking at Sasuke. Suddenly out of nowhere a shuriken hit Haku in the mask.

Sasuke felt an arm grab him, looking up he saw Naruto. "Let's get out of here" Naruto whispered.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke yelled. This brought attention to Haku as she picked herself up.

"Damn it Sasuke, why did you have to yell?" Naruto berated Sasuke. "Let's make a break for it." Both ran for the far side of the dome. Both were intercepted by Haku's lighting fast attacks that seemed to be everywhere. Both were thrown back into the middle of the dome.

"Naruto!!" Hinata screams as she slams a palm into the chest of ninja she was fighting killing him. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Zabuza notice her chakra spike. She runs toward the dome, Haku notices this and throws several senbon hitting her in the chest causing her to collapse.

Naruto getting angry yells "Hinata!! Let, ME, OUT!! Shadow clone jutsu!" about fifty Naruto appear. They all jump in an attempt to try to break out of the mirror prison. Haku attacks from all directions and all the shadow clones are destroyed and Naruto is sent back to the ground with senbon sticking out of him. Naruto gets up again makes a hand sign "shadow clone jutsu." Again about fifty clones appear. Again they jump at the mirrors but are also destroyed again. Sasuke notices that Haku has slowed down.

"Naruto can you do it again?" Sasuke asks. Naruto again creates about fifty clones and attacks the mirrors, the clones are destroyed and he is knocked back to the ground. Naruto barely conscious looks at Sasuke who is deep in thought, 'is it my imagination or is he slowing down?' "Naruto, I am sorry to ask you. But can you do it again?" Naruto shakily stands crosses his fingers and more clones appear. They then proceed to attack the mirrors with no more success than they had before. But Sasuke is able figure out the timing and is able to hit Haku with a brushing glance of a fireball jutsu.

Naruto again hits the ground and just looks at Sasuke. "What is going on with your eyes Sasuke? They have turned red." He noticed that Sasuke's eyes had changed and that there was one tomoe in one eye and two in the other.

Haku threw a bunch of senbon at Naruto but Sasuke was instantly in front of Naruto and blocked them all. 'How was he able to block them all? My speed has not decreased. I must stop this fight soon as my chakra is starting to running low, and I will not be able to maintain this much longer.' Haku thought as he threw more senbon while transporting using his mirrors. He was able to hit Sasuke in the legs thus slowing him down. He also noticed Hinata standing and moving towards the dome. He finished disabling Sasuke. Naruto looked up in time to see Hinata hit again and fall to the ground looking like she was not getting up. The mist around then started to thicken and was visibility is getting worse.

More senbon hit Naruto. "NO!!" Naruto yelled as he sees Hinata's breathing slowing. Sasuke has already passed out. Naruto starts to feel his anger boiling inside of him. Yet more senbon hit him. A red chakra starts leaking out of him and starts to surround him. The chakra then starts to swirl around and creates a wind inside of the dome. The chakra then started to condense around Naruto looking like a pillar of fire with a fox face inside of the chakra.

'What is this chakra? It is visible to the naked eye. The killing intent is almost too much to bear.' Haku thought.

Swirling red chakra surrounded Naruto. His eyes turn red and the normal round pupils became slits similar to a cat. His nails became like claws, his canines elongated, his whisker marks on his face darkened and enlarged and his hair grew and became wilder looking. The release of so much chakra did not go unnoticed. Kakashi and Kurenai looked at each other wondering if the seal had broken. Kakashi realized that it hadn't and shook his head to her which relieved her. As the chakra finished gathering around Naruto he takes a deep breath and then roars, sending all the senbon flying from his body and cracking the mirrors.

Kakashi and Zabuza continued to fight as Kurenai uses the demon binding tree jutsu to cut the throat of the ninja she was fighting. Shino is able to finish his opponent when a dog bit the enemy ninja in the leg distracting him as Shino's insects swarmed him taking him to the ground screaming.

"What is that chakra, it feels like pure evil. Where is it coming from? In with Haku?" Looking that dome. "Time to end this Kakashi, Hidden Mist Jutsu." The fog that hung in the air got so thick you could not see even a meter in front of you.

Haku was jumping between mirrors in an attempt to evade Naruto. As Naruto's speed had increased to a point where he was able to track and start to catch Haku. Haku had to abandon an attempt at one mirror for another as Naruto's increased speed nearly caught up with him. She moved to another mirror as Naruto smashed it with his fist. As she was moving from the third destroyed mirror Naruto caught him by the arm and punched her through the mirror sending her a dozen meters away. Naruto chased her on all fours. Haku landed hard on the cement rolling into a heap. Haku began to stand as her mask chipped and started to fall off her face. She began thinking 'I am sorry Zabuza I am just a broken tool now.' Her mask finally fell away from her face. Naruto approached and grabbed Haku by the collar but was barely able to get control of himself from throwing the killing punch.

"Haku, did you talk to Zabuza? What is your decision?" Naruto asked with a grizzled voice.

"Naruto, I am just a tool for Zabuza. If he calls an end to this it will end otherwise, you will have to finish me. For I am only a broken tool and am now worthless." Haku answered.

While Naruto and Haku were fighting Kakashi and Zabuza fought. Zabuza went for the bridge builder and found Kakashi blocking his way. Zabuza swung his sword and was able to hit Kakashi across the chest causing a nice wound on his chest and then disappear into the fog. Kakashi then grabs a scroll and rubs some of the blood from his wound on the scroll. He starts to spin the scroll around him then rolls it up and then places it on the ground. "Earth style: Tracking fang technique" the ground breaks and heads in an unknown direction. There are growls and a man screaming in pain. The mist then parts revealing Zabuza has been captured by a group of dogs.

With Zabuza captured, Zabuza laughed. "Kakashi, I surrender to you. If you will take me to the Hidden Leaf, I will swear my loyalty to it for the safety of Haku and myself. The one named Naruto offered it to Haku if we surrendered. I also will agree to answer any and all questions your people ask. Killing me would kill Haku, and I could not have that on my conscious. She is too precious to me."

The mist cleared and Naruto threw Haku to his left as he was hit in the chest with a crossbow bolt. He collapsed holding his chest. "How cute, you betray me Zabuza. I will kill you and the entire village." Standing near the end of the bridge was Gato and about a hundred thugs. Haku angered at Naruto being hit and the betrayal of Gato he threw several senbon at Gato hitting him and driving him off the bridge.

The thugs were angered at having lost their paycheck and started to stalk towards the ninjas. Naruto stands up and pulls out the bolt from his chest wincing in pain. Naruto made a hand sign "shadow clone jutsu." About fifty clones appeared.

Kakashi, looking at Naruto 'I have just enough chakra to maybe do it', "shadow clone jutsu." About fifty Kakashi clones appeared. The thugs decided they might be able to take on the injured clones when a crossbow bolt hit in front of them, fired by Inari, who had the whole village behind him. The thugs decided to run seeing that they are outnumbered, they either jumping off the bridge or climbing down to a waiting boat.

"Hinata!" Naruto dispersed his clones and ran to Hinata, while Sakura ran to Sasuke. Both were breathing vary shallowly. He carefully removed the senbon, and held her laying her head on his lap until she regained consciousness. Tears rolling from his eyes "you worried me there."

The next week Naruto used his shadow clones to help with finishing the bridge. Zabuza, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Hinata recovered, though Hinata recovered more quickly than the others. After the bridge was completed the teams said their goodbyes and found out the bridge was going to be named the Great Naruto bridge, which made Naruto and Hinata happy, annoyed team 7, and the Sensei thought it was an interesting anecdote. Sasuke was only a little annoyed as he now had an active sharingan.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long my beta readers found some holes in the plot and my writing of fighting scenes lacking. So I had to do some revising and they did say it was much improved. Yes Haku is female, that will help with further plot twist later in the story. Also I am of the opinion of Haku being a girl fits the story better and being the author of the AU what I say is law. :D

I will continue to work on chapter 14 and other chapters, I have written all the way up to chapter 20 but still need to proof read and get them ready for you guys. Again sorry for the late posting, enjoy. Also Sasuke is as strong as cannon, also he will rely on his sharingan to let him become faster and stronger but this in itself is lacking as it will copy jutsu but not give him the training and the stamina to be able to use what he learns for very long. So remember this when I post the other chapters. Well hope you enjoyed.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

So enjoy the next chapter

Chapter 14 – On the boarder

Upon returning home Team 7 and 8 were told that they were given a successful completion of an A rank mission on their records. Also bringing in Zabuza and Haku also got Naruto a reward for the capture of a missing nin. Both were taken to Ibiki and were released about three days later, they were given a small apartment with Zabuza given a temporary position as special jonin. Haku was given a position as a genin but was not assigned an instructor and was sent to work with the instructors at the academy. Also she would spend time with team 8 training to keep her skills sharp.

After a week of light training and some rest team 8 was summoned to the Hokage's tower for a new C rank mission. They are to head to the border for a couple weeks of scouting and help watching the border of Ta no Kuni (Rice Field country) for Kaminari no Kuni (Lighting country) incursions. They met a few Kaminari ninja but they had paperwork for going to the Chunin exams that would occur in a month.

With only a few days left on their patrol they intercepted two children running from a squad of Lighting ninjas, the children had crossed the border and were nearly exhausted when team 8 arrived. The Lightning ninja, four of them demanded to have the children returned no matter what. Kurenai politely informed them that they were several kilometers into the Fire country and should withdraw, and that they could take this up with the Hokage if they liked.

The lightning ninjas not liking the Kurenai's response attacked. Kurenai ran through some hand signs casting a genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death. The target was surrounded by a tree and entangled, while Kurenai came out of the tree and slit the man's throat. The apparent jonin of the Lightning ninjas went through some hand signs "Lightning technique: Lightning fan" creating a lightning bolt that spread out from his hand. Shino was hit first and was taken down by a lightning bolt while it only injured Naruto, Hinata and the two children. Both Naruto and Hinata began to leak a massive amount of chakra, Naruto's red, Hinata's lavender. At that point Kurenai was fighting a second ninja with a kunai.

Naruto leapt at the jonin with his kunai cutting him across the stomach and chest, as he was not expecting Naruto to be that fast. The jonin did hit Naruto with a defensive slashing attack cutting Naruto across the right arm. They continued to trade blows, neither gaining an advantage. As they switched to taijutsu Naruto created a shadow clone. The fight showed that Naruto while good did not have the same experience as the jonin, who was able to injure Naruto more than he and his clone were able to hit the jonin. This though was to Naruto's advantage, as he healed injuries quickly but the jonin did not and was tiring. The jonin finally thought he got the real Naruto when his kunai stuck in his stomach and was dropping blood, the body exploded in a cloud of smoke. And Naruto pushed his kunai under the shoulder blade of the jonin hitting his heart. The jonin turned and looked at Naruto, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell to the ground.

Hinata was fighting the last of the Lighting shinobi was able to land a couple blows but this was not enough as the enemy decided that fighting close range with her was not in his best interest. He jumped back and started to throw kunai at Hinata, a few hit but they were injuring her. She wished she had learned the Katen (rotation) maneuver it would help protect her from long distance attacks. She was able to avoid most of the kunai and shuriken but the hits were adding up. not quite as good as the other ninja and was slowly losing, even with enhanced healing she could not keep up and was eventually hit and knocked out, just a Naruto struck the jonin ninja with a killing blow.

Seeing the other ninja raise a katana to strike a killing blow on Hinata, Naruto's red chakra flared sending an elongate chakra claw at the offending ninja knocking him down and causing deep wounds on his chest. "Leave her alone!" The downed ninja threw a kunai at Hinata, Naruto caught it but it had hit her in the rib cage and she was bleeding. Naruto looked at the ninja with hate and bloodlust in his now red eyes. He threw the kunai back at the ninja hitting him in the front of the skull, killing him. He then knelt beside Hinata trying to stem the bleeding. It did stop but only after a few minutes, which Kurenai used this distraction to kill the other enemy ninja. She quickly checked Hinata which Naruto appeared to have saved her from dying. She then checked on Shino and the children. Naruto's chakra levels returned to normal. Naruto passed out from exhaustion.

Shino was fine just having received a concussion and slight electrical damage. The children were exhausted. The team bandaged up Hinata, and took care of the kids waiting until the relief team arrived. The children seemed to be fascinated by Naruto which, to him was a little unnerving. While he is twelve the two children were maybe ten and nine. The boy had serpent like eyes which Naruto thought were cool. The girl had bright red hair, ice blue eyes and was always behind the boy. It took a couple of days for them to finally speak. The boy spoke up. "We come to Konoha seeking the jinchuuriki, the container of the Kyubi. I am Shinbo, this is Yugito."

"Ok why are you seeking the container of the Kyubi?" Naruto asked confused.

"We seek him because we have heard that jinchuuriki are treated better in Konoha than other places." Shinbo answered.

"What makes you think that this particular jinchuuriki is treated differently?" Kurenai asked. "All we know now is your names and that you seek the Kyubi container. For all we know you are here to kill him."

Yugito started to cry "we seek him because he is like us and we cannot bear to be treated with hatred anymore."

Naruto smiled and scratched his head, "well, I guess you found me."

Both the children looked at Naruto in awe. He was a ninja of Konoha a respected member of the village. All Kurenai could do was shake her head and think, 'you are too trusting sometimes Naruto.' "What do you mean by saying he is like you?"

"We are both containers of tailed beasts" Shinbo answered. "I contain Hachibi, the eight tailed dragon, Yugito contains Nibi, the two tailed cat. We are humbled and honored to meet you." Both bowed to Naruto.

Naruto looked very confused, "um… Nice to meet you too. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Kurenai Sensei what are we going to do with them? I mean we can't send them back, they will be hurt, and besides I had to kill to protect them and us." With that revelation Naruto looked very sullen realizing that he had made his first and second kills on the same day. He did not remember his actual first as he was only three years old at the time. According to his instruction it should be easy for him to deal with this but he found he was having a problem with having the blood of others on his hands, even if it was for protecting his friends, and team.

Kurenai noticed that Naruto was more down than usual, heck he was downright depressing, the only thing that lifted him since the battle was finding that there were more people who had been forced to have demons sealed in them. "Hinata will you keep our guest entertained, I need to talk to Naruto."

Kurenai motioned for Naruto to follow her into the woods. When they were out of hearing distance she spoke. "Naruto, are you ok? You have been a little on edge since the fight. I miss your happiness that is infectious." Naruto look up a Kurenai with a sad look on his face.

"No Sensei, I am not ok. I was told that it would be easy for me to kill and that I would revel in it." Kurenai was shocked to hear this but let him continue. "I was told that I would feel no remorse for those that I may kill. Because…" He turned away, "because I am a monster."

Grabbing his shoulders and turning him to face her. "Naruto you are no monster. You are the most caring and gracious person I know besides Hinata that I have ever met. Killing should never come easily. While it is what we do it is not what we are. Only a murderer does not feel remorse for those that have been slain. It does become easier with time but should never become enjoyable. I am sorry. What you were told was wrong. Please go back to the group. We will be pulling out tomorrow as our relief should be here tonight. Also tell your new friends that they should only mention their secret to the Hokage upon our return. Understand?" Naruto just nodded and walked back to the group. 'I must figure who taught him the wrong model for dealing with the stress of killing in battle.'

Hinata looked at Naruto as he returned, he looked very depressed, but quickly put on a fake smile as soon as he realized that she had seen him. 'I hope he is ok.'

"Hey Shinbo and Yugito, please do me a favor and do not mention you are a jinchuuriki to anyone other than the Hokage, it will be easier to deal with things that way." They both nodded. "Well we will be heading back to the village tomorrow morning, so be ready to meet the Hokage." With that he put on a huge grin. He then moved to find a spot close to the fire, and promptly fell asleep sitting up. He started lean as he was sleeping and ended up having his head on Hinata's shoulder. She blushed at this but did not want to move him. As Kurenai returned she smiled at seeing Naruto asleep on Hinata's shoulder. At least he was not leaning on her injured side.

"Shino, how is your picket going?" Kurenai asked.

"There is no one around for at least two hundred meters in any direction." Shino answered.

Kurenai moved Naruto into the tent with Hinata as they both were exhausted and needed rest. Naruto had a restless night murmuring, and tossing and turning in his sleep. Shino and Kurenai took shifts watching over the camp, even though nothing happened. The relief came into camp promptly at dawn, and were received by team 8 ready for combat both teams were relieved to see that they were friendly faces. After a quick report to the leader of the replacement squad team 8 headed back to the village.

It took a couple days to reach the village. They checked in at the gates then headed directly to the Hokage's tower. They were ushered into the Hokage's office for their report. "Hokage, I would like to report one hostile incursion and several non hostile, the non-hostile ones were for the upcoming Chunin exams." Kurenai explained. "We have two guests, they are the reason for the hostile incursion. They are jinchuuriki, the eight tailed and two tailed respectively."

"Interesting" Sarutobi exclaimed as he was looking at the children. "So how and why did you come to Konoha?"

At first they were quiet, "Awe, come on, you can tell him. I trust him after all he is the Hokage." Naruto said with a huge smile.

"I am Shinbo, and this is Yugito, we escaped from prison in the lighting capital. We are hoping to have new lives and find the freedom that Naruto enjoys. We have discussed with him that what we were told is not quite correct in that he is regarded as a hero. We know his life thus far has been rough. We want to be free and learn how to be shinobi." Shinbo recounted.

"Well, Naruto is regarded as a hero, but only by a few. But as he improves more as people show him more respect which is what he desires and deserves. I would love to have you in the village and as students, and later as shinobi. Not because you are the containers of demons but because you are caring people. I know you could do worse than have Naruto as an example of how to become a shinobi. I will arrange for you to have a couple apartments close to Naruto so that you can work visit him. I am sure you will want to also get to know Hinata, his teammate, as I feel they will spend a lot of time together. I will talk to the instructors about enrolling you in the academy. First I would like you to talk to someone, if you want to do the interview together that is fine. I just need to gauge how you will fit in to our village. Ibiki will interview you both. I would prefer an individual interview but will allow one that is done together." Sarutobi said with a warm smile.

"Naruto, please stay a moment. Kurenai please escort our guests to the interview rooms." Kurenai and Shino led them both Shinbo and Yugito away to another room in the tower. "Hinata you can stay if you like as this may affect you too. Naruto I want your opinion on them."

"Well, Shinbo is very smart and he seems to know a lot about seals and sealing. He also knows a lot about chakra and its uses. Yugito is nice but I think she was raised by a noble family that did not like her, Hinata said she had a lot of bruises and minor scaring." Hinata nodded at Naruto comments. "I trust them as they both have shown their demon chakra to us. We were careful not to show the relief team." Naruto blushed and looked down. "Also they did not say it but Shinbo does not have a family name and wanted me to adopt him. They both want the Uzumaki name, as Yugito wants to get rid of her family name. So can I adopt them?" Naruto asked happily.

"As for the Uzumaki name I have no problem with them taking on your family name. But you are not old enough to adopt them. I will talk to Iruka so that I can place them in a class so that they can socialize. We will not let people know they are jinchuuriki. You know how it is to be one and how the other children will treat them if they knew. As for the cover story I am not sure. Some sort of relative will work for now. Now as far as the Hyugas go we need to talk. Hinata does Naruto know about what happened nine years ago?" Hinata nodded. "Good, I am glad you could talk about it. Naruto does Hinata know about your guest?" Naruto nodded.

"Ok now that that is out of the way. You are both jinchuuriki, Naruto being the more powerful one. With these new visitors we are up to four. Demons are not that common so sealing them is difficult at best. You both have a gift and a curse." They both looked at each other worried. "No not that way. You have the burden of having to house a demon in you. While it will give you power it comes at a price. Now you are dismissed I have some work to do. I hope to see you again." With that they left to try to catch up with Kurenai and Shino. "How will this affect the village and will it bring more trouble?" Sarutobi could only shake his head as he had a feeling that there was going to be more trouble to come.

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Keep up with the reviews I look forward to them and thanks for the pointers WolfLord04...


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any anime/manga as such. Enjoy the story.

Chapter 15 – Chunin exam

The next morning's training was canceled with Gai's team out on a mission. Naruto and Hinata trained lightly without them as Hinata was still a little sore from her injuries from the last mission. They then headed to the meet up with the team. Kurenai came late but she told them that she was submitting them for the Chunin exams. They just needed to fill out the forms and return them in a couple days at the academy in room 301. After talking to the team specifically Hinata if she wanted to do the Chunin exam and if so was it because she was ready or because she wanted to do it for the team. She took her time and said "I want to do it to prove that I have changed. I of course want to help the team but I want to show everyone that I have changed and am stronger now."

The next morning Naruto and Hinata met Gai and Lee in the training grounds and asked them if they were entering the Chunin exams. Rock Lee gave his usual thumbs up. "Affirmative, of course Tenten, Neji and I are going to enter. But please do not let the others know about my strength or anything you have learned here with Gai Sensei and I." Naruto and Hinata both agreed to Lee's request.

As Hinata and Naruto are walking around they are followed by a square shaped rock that has eye holes in it. As they try to ditch the rock, it continues to follow. They finally stopped and looked at the unusual rock. "Ok Konohamaru, you can come out now. We know you are in there." Hinata giggles at Naruto having his hands on his hips talking to a fake rock.

"How did you know it was me boss?" The fake rock covering is thrown away as they reveal themselves. "I am Konohamaru, she is Moegi, and he is Udon. Together we make the Konohamaru corps."

This causes both Hinata and Naruto start laughing. "Well I am glad you are doing well Konohamaru, I missed you while we were out." Naruto happily said.

"Yes I missed my eternal rival." Looking over Hinata, which caused her to blush a little "so is she your girlfriend?"

This caused Hinata to turn beat red and start to sway. Naruto quickly caught hold of her and steadied her. "She is my teammate. We were heading to the Chunin exams. Konoha…"

Konohamaru was suddenly hit in the back of the head by an angry pink haired Sakura. "I am not his girlfriend."

Nursing a large bump on his head "you are scary…" Konohamaru quickly shouts back.

She walks towards him and he starts to bolt. Hinata starts to recover from nearly fainting at being called Naruto's girlfriend. Konohamaru starts to run and hits something.

"Hey punk, watch where you're going." A hand grabs him by the scruff of the neck and pulls him into the air.

"Let him go!" Naruto exclaims.

"Or what?" The sand shinobi asks. "Will you call your mommy?"

"Let him go, we do not want to cause trouble, Kankurou." A blond female sand shinobi speaks up.

A rock suddenly hit Kankurou in the hand and he releases Konohamaru. "Listen to the lady, you are guest and should act like such." Sasuke says from a nearby tree.

'Wow the locals are not half bad.' Temari, the female sand ninja thinks.

"Kankurou, leave them alone." Everyone looks for the source of the voice. A red headed sand shinobi was standing on the bottom of a branch by Sasuke, with the kanji for love on his forehead.

Looking more frightened than anything, Kankurou puts his hands up defensively. "I was only playing around Gara."

Gara jumps down to the ground and joins the other sand shinobi. Looking back at Sasuke "what is your name? I am Gara of the sand."

"I am Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke smirks.

Naruto just looks annoyed at the whole altercation. Hinata is holding Naruto's arm looking rather worried as the sand shinobi walk away. Sasuke quickly left with Sakura following closely behind. Konohamaru left quickly after thanking Naruto for helping him. Naruto and Hinata continued towards the academy as Hinata did not let go of Naruto's arm. They eventually met Shino as they neared the academy.

Team 8 was able to meet with Shinbo and Yugito at the academy between their classes. They were apparently teased about being the related of the number 1 prankster Naruto Uzumaki. When team 8 entered the second floor, Hinata and Shino said there was something wrong, more than likely a genjutsu. The really silly thing was Rock Lee was getting pushed around by a couple of older Genin. They kept on saying that they would not let them into a room labeled 301. But this confused Naruto as they were on the second floor and all rooms were number by floor then number. So they decided to watch Lee play with the Genin. Sasuke pushed past Naruto rather roughly. Kiba had a, sorry but he is a jerk, look on his face.

"Come on release the genjutsu." Sasuke exclaimed. Most of the people looked at him questioningly. "I mean I am sure Sakura saw it a mile away. As you are the smartest one on our team." This elicited a sour look from Kiba.

"That's right. I saw it coming a mile away and anyways we are on the second floor so the number on the room was changed to intentionally fool us." Sakura said with a haughty attitude.

This caused one of the blocking genin to attack Sasuke and him to retaliate, but Rock Lee was there quickly and was able to block both attacks easily. "You fool we were supposed to hide our strength until later in the exams." Neji scolded Lee.

"I am sorry but we should not be fighting." Lee exclaimed. He then looked directly at Sakura his eyes turned to hearts. He then ran up to Sakura. "Will you be my girlfriend? I will protect you will my life."

"No way, not with a haircut like that and definitely not with those eyebrows." Sakura answered.

Lee just walked off with his shoulders slumped. The genjutsu then ended revealing that the door to 301 was actually 201. Naruto and Lee head back to the foyer. They notice team 7 leaving the building. Lee gets ready to jump down and challenge Sasuke, but Naruto grabs his arm and shakes his head no. Sakura looks back as this happens. "What Naruto afraid that he will be hurt by my Sasuke? He would not have a problem for him to defeat you Lee. You are just too weak." Sakura ranted.

"You are beautiful but ill informed Sakura. Do you think so little of me that you would be little me? I am offended. I was going to challenge Sasuke but I will not as he appears to think that he is the best, I am not yet ready to burst his bubble. I will let him find out the hard way. Just because you have a gift does not make you a genius. If you do nothing with your gift you just waste it. I also know the weakness of the sharingan. I will leave you as I need to get back with my team and we need to take this test." Lee comments.

Naruto nods and they start to walk back as they round the corner. "Good job Lee, I know you like Sakura but you need to understand that she may not be the girl for you. She has a very violent streak and will not take kindly to anyone talking bad about Sasuke even if what they are saying is true. I know as I have tried to be nice to her and only gotten grief. Let Hinata and I find someone who will treat you right. Does that sound good to you?" Naruto asked.

Sakura had hurried up the stairs to bash Lee for his comments to Sasuke. She heard what Naruto had to say and was at first mad then she was hurt that what he was saying was true. 'Is that true? Have I only caused him grief? I know I have been a little rough with him.' She had on several occasions hit Naruto for no reason, at the time she thought that he was saying things about her but he was not. She started to think 'am I that bad that I would hurt people for no reason other than to protect Sasuke or just to hurt Naruto?'

She was woken from her thoughts as she heard Lee comment. "I understand Naruto but I cannot help how I feel towards Sakura. She will have to reject me when I am able to show her my power of youth. If then she rejects me I will of course look for another to show my affection towards. Until then I promise to protect her with my life."

Naruto chuckled "as you wish my friend. Now let us go and finish this exam and become chunin."

Sakura was left stunned as she had heard Lee promise to protect her but she had no feelings for the boy. And Naruto who for all the years in the academy had lavished attention upon her no longer thought she was worth giving attention too. She knew that he was starting to like Hinata but was not sure that he did not still like her. Well what did she care she had Sasuke all to herself and also she had dog boy to help back them up. Naruto and Lee walked up towards the third floor as Sasuke and Kiba approached her. "So are we ready to take the test?" Both nodded as they followed about five minutes behind Naruto and Lee.

Team 7 and Team Gai eyed each other as they proceeded to the next floor. Neji especially looking angrily at Hinata, Naruto noticed this and put himself between them. Lee then put himself next to Naruto and smiled, which Naruto returned. They were greeted at the door by Gai and Kurenai. "Welcome children in the youth of life. I am glad to see you team and you too Naruto and Hinata." This raised an angry and annoyed look from Neji.

"I am glad to see you all came." Kurenai exclaimed, causing Naruto to look at her questioningly. "If you had not come as a team I could not let you into the exam. This exam is done as a squad not as individuals. And thus I am glad you are all here. Good luck to all of you."

They opened the door and walked into the waiting room not knowing what to expect.

A/N: Here we go with the exam starting. I hope you enjoy this chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 16 – The exam begins

After talking to their sensei they entered the room. There were a lot of shinobi from both Konoha and other villages maybe around two-hundred or so. Naruto looked around and saw lots of angry faces looking directly at them. Naruto just smiled and yelled, "Bring it on!! I'll beat each and every single one of you." He chuckled as Hinata grabbed his arm.

"Naruto do you think you should go aggravating the competition?" Shikamaru asked. "Jeez what a troublesome guy you are." Sasuke had just walked in as Naruto made his proclamation.

"Hey Sasuke, sweetie. I haven't seen you in forever." Ino proclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck from behind.

"Jeez Ino, let go." Sasuke said annoyed at Ino.

A silver haired young man walked over to the group. "If I were you I would keep it down around here. Most of the people here are on edge."

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Me? I am Kabuto Yakushi. I am nobody important." This brought a couple looks from some of the group including Naruto. "Look I have taken this exam seven times. My guess is that you guys are the rookies I have heard so much about."

"What of it?" Sasuke snidely remarked.

"Well let me explain a little something to you." Kabuto explained as he pulled out a deck of cards.

"Cards? What are those for? They're just blank cards?" Sakura added.

"Ah, but if I infuse them with my chakra so they show some very interesting things that I have collected through research. I have gotten nearly two-hundred cards on individuals." Kabuto goes into a lengthy and detail that there are ninja from almost all the villages here to take the exam. He also makes a couple of comments about the sound village being small and insignificant. "Is there anyone you would like to have information on?"

Sasuke nods "Rock Lee and that Gaara guy."

"You know their names you're making this too easy. Let's see what I have." He states as he grabs a card and turns it. A picture of Rock Lee appears and it shows that he is a very good at taijutsu but nothing else. "Well he is good at taijutsu. Let's see. Gaara of the sand, that is funny I have nothing on him. Other than he has returned from all missions without even a scratch. Sorry but as he is a foreign shinobi I don't have that much information on him."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee all out of the corner of their eyes see the three different ninja moving towards them in a threatening manner.

Naruto intercepts a kunai headed towards Kabuto. Lee blocks a couple senbon. Sasuke just watches the person who appears to be the primary attack but another whose head is wrapped in bandages comes up in front of Kabuto. He swings his arm but appears to miss. Kabuto smiles for a second then feels very dizzy. His glasses break and he coughs a small amount of blood. "No one insults the sound village. Do I make myself clear?" The bandaged ninja says as he walks away.

Suddenly a poof of smoke and a man in a trench coat with a couple dozen Chunin dressed in proctor uniforms appear. "Ok brats time to start the exam, Take your seats. I am Ibiki Morino I am your proctor, and your worst enemy." All the assembled Genin took seats according to where their lottery number placed them.

Naruto and his team are split up with Naruto being sent up to the front, Hinata is placed a couple rows behind him and Shino put on the other side of the room. Much to Naruto's annoyance Sakura was seated right next to him. Shino was not happy about his placement in the back of the room away from the rest of his team. Hinata was not pleased with where they are placed either.

"Okay maggots!! You have 45 minutes to do the exam. You will fail if your score is dropped to zero points. First of all you will all be given ten points to start off with. Each time you are caught cheating you will lose two points. You also lose one point for each wrong answer. If your points are brought to zero by cheating or wrong answers both you and your team will be asked to leave for failing the exam. You may begin."

Each person turns over their test and looks over the questions. Naruto has a look of utter terror on his face as he doesn't even understand the questions let alone how to answer them. He starts to look around and hear the proctors start to name off names. "Number 15 you're done, and take your team with you. Number 43 fail, leave with your team." This continues for a few minutes with several more teams being asked or told to leave. Naruto then notices that Sakura's paper is near his.

She quietly whispers "You can cheat off mine, as this is of course the main reason of this test. Consider this a returned favor for helping me see myself." Naruto looks at her then shakes his head.

"I will find another way to pass, thank you though. You are becoming a nice person." Naruto smiles as he keeps on thinking of ways he can pass the test. Several other teams were eliminated as the test continued.

The time is finally up and all Naruto has to show for it is a blank page with only his name at the top. "Okay put down your pencils. There is a final question on the test." Ibiki sadistically laughs. "Well this one is the funny question. But first you have to let me know if you want the question. And before you answer, I must tell you the conditions for taking the tenth question. First, if you miss the final question your points will be dropped to zero, second your team will fail. Third you will be made a Genin forever, never able to take this exam again." He starts to laugh again.

Naruto is thinking, 'Guess I have to put all my eggs in one basket and hope for the best on the final question.'

Ibiki smiles evilly. "So if you want to forfeit and fail now you can. No one will feel any less about you. You can take the test again in six months. But if you feel you will pass the question, please by all means stay." His grin gets even bigger. "So any takers on waiting another six months so that you can be better prepared?"

This brought about a round of about a dozen teams quitting. Hinata was watching Naruto in absolute fear as she knew that he had no questions answered at all. She started to raise her hand when she hears a hand slam down on a desk in front of her. It was Naruto and he was standing. "This is crap! Come on and give us the question. I never quit! I never give up! That is my nindo, my ninja way. So bring on your all important question! I don't care if I am stuck as genin the rest of my life, so what, I will still become Hokage someday no matter what!" Naruto was smiling from ear to ear.

"Okay, sit down and let the others think. Do I have any other takers?" Ibiki asked. 'Man I think he just put some backbone in the rest of them.' "This is your last chance, there is no turning back!" Ibiki waited for a couple minutes but none of the others decided to quit. He starts to laugh. "Ok, you all pass the first part of the exam!"

Everyone looked very confused. The female sand ninja, Temari, spoke up first. "Um, proctor? What do you mean we pass?"

Ibiki smiled. "Well as you can surmise, the first set of questions were nearly impossible for any normal genin to answer. So it was test espionage skills and skills at gathering information without being caught, thus the reason you would lose two points instead of failing outright. If the enemy knows that you have knowledge about information, the value would be lessened. Thus it is better to not get the information than being caught trying to do so." Ibiki paused and pulled his bandana off his head revealing a bald but scared scalp, there were cuts, and burns evident all over his scalp. "Being caught gathering information can either lead to your death or that of your team. It is better not to get the information than being caught trying to get it, as the information's value would be lessened by the enemies' knowledge of you knowing something about the information stolen."

He looked around the room and saw that only a few were getting what he was saying. "Okay, look at it this way. If you were caught with information that a group of people were going to use your back door to enter your house, they might use a different way to enter or not enter at all. This knowledge of who has the information is power. If you can get information and not be caught you are in better shape than if you have information that can be changed on you." He smiled as most of the room seemed to understand what he was trying to convey.

Sakura spoke up this time. "Then when do we get the tenth question?"

"That's just it, you answered my tenth question." Everyone looked confused as Ibiki put his bandana back on his head. "Shinobi are given missions that maybe impossible to achieve. So if the mission means death for you or your team, will you choose to not accept the mission? No, you cannot and that is why I asked the last question. To lead and send people on mission you must accept that you will either fail and be scorned or will die on the mission. That shows leadership and thus what a chunin rank signifies. This is why genins get the easy missions. They are not ready to make the sacrifice that a chunin will make and will make his team also make for their village. I have said enough, congratulations on completing the first part of the Chunin exam!! "

Suddenly a large object appears in the window and comes crashing through it. When it reaches the middle of the room it separates in four directions leaving a woman in rather a revealing outfit. She was wearing a long trench coat that was open, a short skirt, shin guards, and fish a netting shirt, leaving little to the imagination. She stood in front of a banner saying 'I am Anko Mitarashi. Your second proctor.' "Hello maggots, I am your proctor for the second part of your exam." The new proctor leaned slightly back and over towards Ibiki while she quietly asked "Hey Ibiki, what happened? There are a lot of them almost too many."

"There are a lot of good candidates this year." Ibiki responded.

"Or is it that the test you gave them was too easy? Are you going soft, Ibiki?" Anko rebutted. She then raised her voice so that the whole room could hear her. "That's okay I guarantee that I will reduce the number by half when this section of the chunin exam is over. Okay, I want all of you to find your jonin sensei as will tell be able to tell you where to meet tomorrow morning for the next part of the exam. You are dismissed."

Ibiki starts to gather the papers from the exam. 'That kid really did a good job of inspiring the others not to quit. What was his name?' He came up on Naruto's paper and looked at it and could not stop himself from chuckling. 'Naruto Uzumaki huh? I passed him even though he did not even answer a single question. I must be slipping.' He finished up and headed to the room with the jonin sensei, only the Konoha ones were still in there. "So who is in charge of Naruto Uzumaki?" Ibiki asked with a large grin.

Kurenai was a bit worried about answering Ibiki as both Gai and Kakashi looked at her. "He is my student, why?"

"Well I think he may just make his dream of becoming Hokage." Ibiki chuckled.

"Why do you say that?" Kurenai looked confused.

"Of all the chunin hopefuls he was first able to figure out and beat my no-win scenario and then I finding out that he did not even answer a single answer on the test giving him a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Anyone who can get me like that should be Hokage eventually." He snickered.

Kakashi jus t shook his head. "You mean he passed without answering anything on the test?" Asuma asked.

"Well he figured out my tenth question. He even promised to be the first genin to become Hokage." Ibiki laughed again. "With that much determination it will take him far."

"Stubborn, crafty, and insightful, well that's Naruto for you." Kurenai replied with a smile on her face. "Konoha's number one hyperactive, most unpredictable ninja." With that comment they all laughed.

During the celebratory dinner, which was on Kurenai, Hinata apologized to her team saying, "I am sorry for not believing in you Naruto-kun. I almost raised my hand and had us leave. I was scared that you would always be a genin because I saw your empty test paper."

Naruto sheepishly scratched his head and blushed. "Thanks for telling us. I know I am a knucklehead, but I figure that even if I remain a genin I could still get strong enough to become Hokage. And not getting the answer would not hurt you guys. So I said, 'what the heck', and that I should go for it. I am glad that you were and are concerned about me Hinata." Naruto replied as he blushed, this elicited an even redder blush from Hinata.

"Your next part will be held at training ground area 44. So, be prepared as if you are going out on a mission. That is all the advice I can give you. Other than that, please be careful and try to help out your fellow Konoha shinobi if at all possible. But do not jeopardize your chances to pass this part. Good job so far and good luck in continuing. Now enjoy your dinner as it is on me for your successful completion of part one of the chunin exams."

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A/N: I would like to thank Mrs. Itachi Uchiha and the others for beta reading this chapter. She was a great help in ironing out a lot or rough spots in this story.

Hope you liked the chapter. I have the several others in to my beta readers for review so that they can help me with the story and make it the best possible. Keep the reviews coming even critical ones. I can and do like people letting me know if I made a mistake or how they feel.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer:Naruto is not mine.

Enjoy this chapter, the longest so far.

Chapter 17 – Forest of Death

Shino arrived before Naruto and Hinata had, at area 44. Naruto then spoke up, "So did you scan the area with your bug?"

"Yes Naruto, I did. There will be one female bug per participant, so that I can always keep track of where we are if we are separated. So... any objections?" Shino replied looking at his two teammates.

Naruto's face was plastered with a big foxy grin and chuckled into his hand, "I like how you think, Shino." Then Naruto started looking a little troubled, he replied hesitantly, "But isn't that cheating?"

"I see no reason why it would be so. We are, after all, a scouting team. Knowing where our allies and enemies are is one of the most essential things while on a mission." Shino responded, Naruto thought about it for a minute and nodded,

"Eh...you're right." Naruto scratched his head nervously.

Over the next fifteen minutes, other teams participating in the Chunin Exams started to arrive. Team 7 seemed to be in an especially good mood. All of course, except for Sasuke, who never seemed to be in a good mood. "Hey Sasuke, I see you've had your prune juice today." Naruto teased.

Sasuke responded with a "Tsh…" and turned away apparently even more annoyed than before. This of course put a big grin on Naruto's face. Hinata blushed seeing him in a good mood. Sakura marched over to Naruto and appeared to be going to hit him then leaned into his ear and whispered,

"That was actually funny. Now don't let Sasuke hear that or I will hit you." She then walked over to her team.

Suddenly a voice came from behind Naruto and the others. "Ok, maggots!! Time to listen up!!" For some unknown reason, Naruto suddenly saw a kunai headed towards his face. He dodged the best that he could, but it still managed to get his face scratched causing a small cut. Anko was suddenly beside him, licking the blood off of the cut on his face. This sent shivers of fear down Naruto's spine and Hinata got very angry at the proctor. Naruto was now fearing for his life, mostly because the woman seemed to be enjoying hurting him and to a degree where he didn't like. Hinata on the other hand, was angry at this woman pawing Naruto. Then Anko noticed something out of the corner of her eye and stopped her actions on Naruto, while pulling out another kunai from her belt.

A grass shinobi leaned over Anko's back with the kunai in her tongue. "Proctor, I thought I would return your kunai." For some reason Naruto's nose was twitching. He did not like the smell coming off the grass ninja.

"Thank you nice grass shinobi, I appreciate that." Taking the kunai out of the ninja's tongue she then continues to speak, "Ok now that I have your attention..." She winked over at Naruto. "First things first before I let you enter this forbidden ground, I need you to sign this release form stating that Konoha will be indemnified if you happen to die in this part of the Chunin exams. Also, welcome to the Forest of Death. For the next five days you will be working against your fellow teams to get both of these." She pulled out two scrolls. One was white with a black label reading Heaven. The second scroll was black with a white label reading Earth. "Each team will be given either a heaven or an earth scroll. You must gather a complete set, one heaven and one earth. After you have them both, you will need to head to the tower in the center of the forest. Do not, I repeat..."

Anko took a breath before she continued, "Do not open them. When you become a fully qualified ninja in the near future, you will be assigned to missions where you'd be given special documents that aren't meant to be opened. This will be a test of trust. As a chunin, you would be trusted more with harder missions than genins. When you complete your forms, please as a team, go to the booth and pick up your scroll and then head to your team's assigned gate. If you're wondering how you're going to survive without food, don't because this area has abundant resources of food and water. Just watch out for dangerous animals and poisonous plants. And on another note, I want to say this to all of you, good luck and just don't die." With that speech, Anko passed out the release forms.

Team 8 got their forms and headed to the booth, got their scroll and quietly walked to their assigned gate. "Ok Naruto you hold the scroll." Shino ordered. Naruto took the scroll and put it in his pack. "In the mean time, we should come up with a plan to trap the other teams in case they have the scroll that we need. In order for that to happen, Hinata, I want you to use your Byakugan to see if any teams are around us. If there are, you should see which scroll they have. If they happen to have the one we need, we'll come with a tactic to ambush them and take their scroll. We should come across at least one of them today. If we go along with this plan, we'll be at the tower before anyone. Any objections?"

Naruto and Hinata shook their head no, in fact they both kind of agreed with Shino's plan. It sounded like it'll work and plus it was the only plan that they had to go on. The gate was promptly opened at noon, much to everyone's anticipation and all the teams went rushing into the Forest Of Death and discussing the plans to each other. Team 8 headed into the forest, after an hour into their journey, both Naruto and Hinata called the team to a stop. Shino not understanding why they had stopped, he looked at his teammates, "Forest leaches." Hinata replied, pointing up into the canopy. "I could see them earlier and I didn't want us to get attacked by them, so... I believe this will make a good ambush site."

"I could smell them or at least the decay they left on the forest floor." Naruto commented.

Shino nodded, they all lept in the safe side of the canopy and away from the leeches to wait for an oncoming team. Hinata spotted one coming their way about an hour later. By using her Byakugan, she observed even further in recognizing what scroll they currently possessed. Hinata let out a gasp. Her two teammates turned to look at her.

"What is it, Hinata? Is there someone coming?" Shino asked. Hinata nodded.

"Yes, and they also possess the Earth Scroll." Shino's eyeglasses tinted in the sunlight and Naruto smiled his goofy grin. Their plan really worked! They only had to wait about a half hour more for the group to arrive and the leaches to attach to them. "That was easy." Naruto commented, jumping to the forest floor, where the team's dead bodies were, he pulled the scroll from their pack. "Good thing you saw they had an Earth scroll, Hinata. So do we head for the tower or do we look for more?"

"We can either head straight for the tower or see if we can help any of the other Konoha teams." Shino replied. With that they left the area.

Fairly soon after they had left the area, Shino, Hinata and Naruto found a scene of a potential battle. They found Gaara and the sand siblings being confronted by a group from the village of hidden in the rain.

"Okay, hand over your scroll and we will go easy on you." One of the rain ninja commented.

"I wouldn't piss him off if I were you." Kankurou replied, gesturing to his little brother next to him.

"Oh come on, we will crush you." The rain ninja retorted.

"Have it your way, I am not responsible for your death." Kankurou retorts, stepping back a little.

"Enough Kankurou. They have annoyed me enough. I will kill them." Gaara replies with an evil smile.

"Show me what you have midget!" The lead rain ninja says. He then threw his umbrella up and made a couple hand signs. "Ninja art Senbon cage!" Senbons flooded out the umbrella and began to surround Gaara. "You will not be able to survive this. You will be attacked from every angle and you will die." Kankurou and Temari just smirk. "Aren't you the least bit scared? You are going to die."

"I warned you." Kankurou smilingly states almost laughing.

"Die!" the rain ninja yells. All the senbon surrounding Gaara headed towards Gaara who was just standing there impassively with his arms crossed. A cloud of dust erupts as the weapons neared their target. The dust cleared and the senbon had been stopped from hitting Gaara by a shield of sand that surrounded him. "What? How did you survive? There is no defense against that attack."

The Rain ninja look on with surprise as they saw the hundreds of senbon stopped by what looks like a couple of overlapping shields of sand. "Now you did it. You're going to die." Kankurou playfully sings. "You see the sand protects him from any type of attack. It's the ultimate defense and he doesn't have to do a thing for it to work. It just does. Well it was nice knowing you."

"Senbon rain!" the rain ninja replies, sending more needles towards Gaara. They are quickly blocked by more sand. Also unnoticed sand is covering the rain ninja's legs and climbing up his body. "Wait I can't move!"

Gaara calmly walks over and picks up the rain ninja's umbrella. "Sand coffin." The sand covers the ninja completely. "Sand burial." Gaara replied, his hand outstretched as he made a fist with his hand, crushing anything that was now in the sand. The leader ninja was crushed immediately and at the impact, sprays blood all over the area hitting the umbrella that Gaara was holding, he was shielding himself as if the blood were rain.

"Here take the scroll. We don't need it! You can have it. Please take it." One of the other rain ninjas places the scroll on the ground. "Wait what are you doing?" He asks as the sand starts to encompass him and his teammate. "Why? NO!!"

"Rain of blood" Gaara says as he closes his hand and the other two rain ninja were pulverized by the crushing sand, spraying blood all over the area.

"Hey, what do you know a heaven scroll!" Kankurou comments. "Lucky for us, we don't have to do any more work." Looking over at Gaara who seemed to not have had his bloodlust sated. "Ah, come on Gaara we got what we need. So why can't we just head to the tower?"

"We are not alone, and I have not had enough blood." Gaara turns to where Team 8 was hiding.

"Hey, how are you doing? Neat trick you got there, well, looks like we both have all the scrolls we need. We'll just leave peacefully now." Naruto comments as he walks out from behind the bushes. Hinata, who was still behind the bushes, had a look of utter terror on her face.

"You are my prey. Now you die." Gaara growls as the sand starts to move in Naruto's direction.

"Shadow clone jutsu!!" Naruto says as fifty Naruto's fill the space between the two possible combatants. Naruto put a big grin on his face "Are you really sure we can't talk about this?"

The sand becomes a wave taking several clones with it. Hinata lets out an 'eep' as she was picked up and carried away by Naruto. Shino seeing this follows closely. They continue to run for an hour in random directions. Shino comments "Naruto are you ok?"

"Yes, I just have one killer of a headache." Naruto replies remembering the scene of clones being eviscerated coming to his mind. "That guy is trouble." Then grin broadly as he sees a couple of images of Gaara being given a noogie. And other silly antics the clones were doing. After another hour Naruto knows the last one is gone but is reassured that the clone dismissed itself after making sure that the sand siblings went off in another direction. "We are safe now. We need to avoid that guy at all costs." Naruto replied seriously.

"How so?" Asks Shino.

Naruto chuckles, "He has no sense of humor, and the way he took out the clones...?" Naruto gulps, "Well, let's just not talk about it."

"Someone is coming. A single person and moving quickly" Shino exclaims. They hear a sudden crash of branches as they see Kiba going by very fast followed by a huge snake. The snake suddenly gulps down Kiba. Utter horror is displayed on Team 8's face. Shino turns to look at Naruto, "Well? Do we help him?" Not seeing Naruto or Hinata there he shrugs his shoulders "I guess that answers that question."

The snake starts to lie down and is hit by an explosive tag, then several more. It opens its mouth and Naruto jumps in. "Naruto!" Hinata screams. The snake's body begins to bulge and expand. It finally explodes sending hundreds of Naruto clones and Kiba flying. Most of the Naruto burst into clouds of smoke as the clones disperse. Shino catches Kiba while Naruto lands in a heap on the forest floor. Hinata goes down to him. She is crying, Naruto moves. She grabs him and hugs him tightly. "Naruto!" she continues to sob. "You told me you would not take those types of risks."

Naruto sadly looks into her crying eyes. "I know but we were not getting anywhere and Kiba and Akamaru were going to suffocate in there. I couldn't stand having my friend die like that. I am sorry to have worried you Hinata. I will try to keep it to a minimum next time." She nods approval to his statement. They both get up and move to the side of Kiba who has regained consciousness.

"Hey, where's the snake? And what was with the wind?" Kiba comments.

"Where is your team Kiba?" Shino asks.

Kiba shakes off his sluggish feeling. "I was blown away from them by a strong wind. We need to get back to them."

All four of them head in the direction that Kiba indicates. As they approach, Hinata activates her Byakugan. "Sasuke and Sakura appear to be fighting a single ninja." Hinata reports, then there was a sudden look of fear on Hinata's face. "The shinobi is extending his neck and it had just bit Sasuke. Watch yourself! There are weapons all over the place." Seeing Naruto pulling ahead she calls to him "Naruto, please be careful."

Naruto hits the ninja in the face just as his neck goes back to a normal length. "More insects to disturb me." the grass ninja says. "Sasuke-kun you will seek me out when you are ready and I will give you power." The ninja sidesteps Naruto's next punch and grabs him. He then throws Naruto into a tree leaving a three meter diameter crater in the tree. Naruto slowly slips into unconsciousness. "Well, I will see you later Sasuke-kun." The ninja slowly merges into the limb they are standing on.

"Sasuke-kun? Sasuke-kun? Are you alright?" Sakura screams as he screams in pain. She sees a mark appear near his neck in a heaven seal formation. (Three tomes.) "What did he do you Sasuke?" She cries as she cradles a screaming Sasuke.

Hinata jumps and catches Naruto as he finally falls away from the tree. She sets him on the ground and then notices her hand is covered in blood. "Shino, I need your help!" Hinata yells to her teammate. Shino is quickly by her side. She rolls Naruto onto his stomach and sees a kunai imbedded handle first into his back. "He might recover if we can get it out and stop any major bleeding." Shino nods and has his insects make a protective glove for his hand.

"I am ready when you are Hinata." Shino says as he grabs the blade portion of the kunai. Hinata has a large handful of gauze and ointment on her other hand. She nods as Shino pulls out the kunai. The bleeding is bad but the ointment makes the blood slow and the wound appears to be healing. She then takes off his shirt and finds a couple of shuriken embedded in his back. They remove them then bandage Naruto up.

"He will be out for the rest of the day maybe longer. Let's hope his guest will help repair this and are not bothered for the next day or so." Hinata comments as Shino nods.

"I will search for a protective shelter and check on the other team. Will you be ok with Naruto? Please do not blame him for his rash actions. I am sure he will learn from them. He seems to like to learn his lessons the hard way." Shino states as Hinata chuckles. Shino jumps back up into the trees and meets with team 7. "Is everyone ok? I am currently searching for a defensible position so that we can rest our team. You may come along if you like. I am sure it will be easier to defend with four members than as two separate teams of two."

"Sasuke is hurt. He was bitten and is in a lot of pain." Sakura responds. She looks sad. "Is Naruto ok? I saw what happened. He took quite a hit."

"He is injured and will not be able to move for a day or so." Shino responded. "My insects have found a defensible cave that is near water. We can rest there."

It took five minutes to get both Sasuke and Naruto situated in the cave. It was more like the roots of a tree than an actual cave. Sakura could not believe the bandages that were on Naruto's back Hinata shyly asked Shino to help take off Naruto's pants. Sakura was sure she was up to something not very lady like. She was proven wrong, apparently Naruto had a shuriken in his leg that needed to be removed and the wound treated.

Shino then took Sakura out of the cave to set up traps. He was surprised that she was very adept at this skill. She seemed to be able to place the traps where they would be most effective. Hinata and Kiba rested while Sakura and Shino worked. They soon found Kiba sleeping and Hinata sleeping on an unconscious Naruto.

"That is so cute." Sakura said blushing. "Well I guess we get the first shift."

"No Sakura, my insects get the first shift. We need sleep. There are a few hours of daylight left and my insects will alert me if someone approaches. I suggest we get some sleep." Shino replied. Sakura nodded, "All right."

They slept until the next morning when Shino then woke Hinata, who is embarrassed to have slept on Naruto's chest all night. He woke the others stating that someone was approaching.

Three sound ninjas were on the outskirts of the camp watching their target, Sasuke who seemed to be down for the count. "Will they be much of a problem?" Dosu asked through his bandaged face.

"We'll be taking on four injured leaf shinobis. It's no big deal." Kin the female ninja replied.

The sound ninja approached the camp and they were then confronted by Shino "You should not attack. You are outnumbered and we are prepared for any assault."

"Oh really? You make obvious traps right here in front of your camp. All we have to do is jump over them and then you are ours." Dosu replies. The three sound ninja jump up in the air and all are surprised as a log comes swinging towards them. "Very good but it is not good enough." Dosu slides his sleeve back on his right arm and reveals a bracer with holes in it. The log shatters when it came close to the jumping ninja. Akamaru and Kiba both fall over as if in pain, both were holding their ears.

Sakura screams, everyone turns to find her on her knees while Kin has a handful of Sakura's hair."Nice hair, but to be a shinobi you should worry less about your hair and worry more about your jutsu." Sakura is crying from letting everyone down and not the pain of her hair being pulled.

Hinata is blown into the cave by a strong gust of wind that came from the other sound ninja. "Hey girl, you need to be able to fight long range to fight me. Can I kill Sasuke?" Zaku asks with a huge smile on his face.

Sakura pulls a kunai. "That won't work on me girl." Kin comments on having a kunai in Sakura's hands.

"Who said it was for you?" Sakura says with an evil grin. She then proceeds to cut herself out of Kin's grasp by cutting her hair and sending Kin off balance. She immediately runs at Zaku while throwing several shuriken. Sakura immediately starts to make hand signs.

"Kin get out of the way!" Zaku yells at his teammate, who jumps. Zaku smiles and points his upturned palms towards Sakura. A sudden blast of wind catches the shuriken and sends them back a Sakura. When the shuriken hit Sakura, she is replaced by a log. "I see your game. Where are you?" He turns as Sakura again throws shuriken and makes hand signs. Zaku blasts the shuriken back with the same results. Zaku sees a shadow and again aims at Sakura. But with seeing her making hand sighs he just grabs a couple kunai and throws them at her. He turns looking for another attack from a different direction.

He realizes something is wrong when he turns and sees her bloodied and still coming towards him. Sakura slams into Zaku pushing a kunai into his left arm. Zaku proceeds to hit her trying to get her off of him. Kin finally kicks her off. "Ok bitch, you're going to die." Zaku comments but is interrupted by two distinct chakra spikes. One purple and black, the other is red. Naruto is standing holding Hinata bridal style with red eyes, only wearing boxers and the bandages on his chest and legs. Sasuke is standing looking at Sakura who is barely conscious.

"Who did this to you Sakura?" Sasuke asks.

"I did, what are you going to do about it?" Zaku replies as he sends a wind attack at the cave. "Ha, I got them. That was too easy." The dust settles revealing no one is there at all. "Where did they go?" Kin yelps in pain as she is kicked by Naruto across the clearing. Sasuke is behind Zaku by a few meters just laughing manically. Zaku turns and points at Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba. "Now I have you."

His arms are suddenly behind him being pulled by Sasuke. There are black marks all over Sasuke's left side. "You seem to like your arms." Sasuke twists both of Zaku's arms out of joint with a sickening crack.

Sakura sees that Sasuke is going to kill Zaku and can feel the bloodlust. She runs behind him and embraces him. "No Sasuke. Please don't!" She starts to cry and the curse marks recede and goes back into the heaven mark on his neck. Sasuke collapses.

Dosu puts his scroll on the ground. "We offer this as a token, so that you do not kill us."

Naruto is growling in a very feral tone. "Leave now or I will kill you."

Dosu grabs both of his teammates and leaps away.

Naruto lays Hinata on the ground and stokes her hair as she slowly wakes up. She turns red and says, "Naruto, can you put some clothes on?" Naruto takes another moment to make sure that she is okay before going back to the cave and puts his spare clothes on. Sasuke's head is on Sakura's lap while he is sleeping soundly. Kiba and Akamaru both seem to be feeling better now that the sound ninja has left. Sasuke wakes up about twenty minutes later completely drained. Both groups break camp and head towards the tower. The trip to the tower was most uneventful.

--

A/N: Thanks again to Mrs. Utachi Uchiha for her Beta reading and review of this chapter. Much thanks to her. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the forest of death.

Always remember this is an AU, where Naruto was partially raised by the Hyuga. Should have chapter 18 some time next week.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: You know the drill...

Chapter 18 – Preliminary matches –

The remaining teams arrived at the tower where they had a couple days to rest and recuperate. Both team 7 and 8 gave reported on what happened during the survival exam and about meeting the strange grass shinobi that seems to be strong beyond any of the genins. They also told Kakashi about the curse seal on Sasuke's neck, that's when Kakashi took Sasuke aside for extra precautions and put another seal on it so that it wouldn't be able to activate if it decides to take control of Sasuke's body. Sasuke was limited to not using chakra or his sharingan for at least a week. After the fifth day all those who had completed the second exam were brought into an underground arena where there was a statue on the north wall with a couple monitors on both sides of the statue and platforms with stairs on either side of the arena.

The Hokage proceed to inform the final contestants of the reasons for the exam. It was for preserving the balance of power between the nations and to avert war by limiting the armies of each village and also by fighting with the contestants as proxy for the villages. The next proctor Hayate Gecko, a very sickly man who was always coughing, explained that there were still too many contestants and that they needed a preliminary round to reduce the numbers so that they could showcase the best talent for the visiting dignitaries. Kabuto immediately backed down from participating, as he felt that he was too hurt to continue. This left twenty people to participate in the preliminaries.

As the names roll across the screen everyone waited for two names to appear on the board. Those names were Yoroi Akadou and Sasuke Uchiha, the first names that appeared on the board. Yoroi chuckles and smirks, "Perfect, I will be able to draw out the curse seal."

"Will Yoroi Akadou and Sasuke Uchiha please remain while the other contestants please move to the upper catwalks on either side?" Hayate exclaimed. "Now the rules are very clear, you can either kill or knock out your opponent and if I call the match you will stop immediately. Anything goes. Any questions?" Both shook their heads. "Okay, you may begin!" With that statement Hayate jumped back.

Yoroi made some hand signs and his right hand started to glow blue with chakra. Yoroi started with punches aimed at the Uchiha, but Sasuke was able to dodge all of the blows for a while. Fatigue was starting to set in, with Sasuke becoming light-headed, Yoroi was able to give Sasuke a glancing blow with his right hand off Sasuke's right shoulder. Sasuke suddenly felt weak as if his strength was being sucked out of him. With this lapse of attention, Sasuke was caught by Yoroi right hand on his forehead. Sasuke felt his chakra being leached from him. "Ha, bad luck getting me. I can steal your chakra boy. You might as well give up now because you're going to lose."

Orochimaru disguised as the sound ninja jonin was thinking 'Sasuke, Yoroi will drain you of your chakra and then you will have to rely on the seal that I gave you.'

Sasuke finally kicked Yoroi in the chest breaking his hold on him as he lay in pain. He then kicked him off of him. 'I hope this works.' Sasuke thought. Yoroi started to advance towards Sasuke again to steal more chakra.

"I have you now you little punk." Yoroi exclaimed. Just then Sasuke disappeared. "Where did he go?" Suddenly Sasuke was beneath Yoroi, and kicked up sending Yoroi into the air, Sasuke jumped up behind him. As they reached the apex of the kick. "Dancing leaf shadow, how do you know that maneuver?"

Sasuke was now behind Yoroi, pressing his fingers into his back. "Up until this point, I have borrowed the maneuver. But it is all original from here." He attempts a kick to his right side which is promptly blocked. He then spins and hits Yoroi's left side, "Lion's Barrage" sending him crashing into the ground. Both are lying on the ground. Sasuke slowly gets up to a shaky standing position. Yoroi is not moving and Hayate calls the match in Sasuke's favor, making Sasuke the winner of the first round. Sasuke falls to the ground, but is caught by Kakashi's knee. "Up until the last part, I could have sworn that was Gai's taijutsu. Good job, Sasuke for winning the first match. Now let's get you to the infirmary, and no arguments."

Medics came out and took Yoroi out of the hall on a stretcher. One came over to Sasuke. "Does he need attention?"

"Yeah, take him to a nice, warm bed so that he can rest." Kakashi replied as they took Sasuke away.

Names started to scroll across the electronic screen. It eventually stopped on Shino Aburame and Abumi Zaku. "Both contestants please come down to the floor please." Hayate requested. Shino walked down, while Zaku walked down with both his arms in slings.

"You should withdraw as you do not have any arms to fight with." Shino stated.

Zaku wiggled his right hand and arm. "Look I have some movement in this arm. Guess I can attack!" Zaku stated as he swung a lazy punch at Shino, who blocked it to the side of his head. He opened his palm revealing a tube exiting his palm. "I win!" Large bursts of air and chakra exited his hand, covering the arena in dust.

"Shino!" Naruto yelled as Shino rolled away from the attack. Naruto knew what was coming next. Shino's face was pot marked and bugs were exiting the holes in the skin of his face.

"What kind of monster are you?" Zaku cried, pointing his good arm at Shino.

"One who is going to win! Now you can either fire your wind tunnel at me or you can fire them at my insects that are behind you. " Zaku turns to see a mass of beetles marching directly towards him from behind. "You should always have an ace up your sleeve."

Zaku continues to point his arm at Shino but pulled his other arm out from its sling. "Like you said you should always have an ace in hole. Wind hurricane." Zaku's arms swelled up then it suddenly sprung holes and blew air all over the area but none hit either Shino or his insects. Zaku fell, shock written on his face, whispering, "How?"

"Having one ace in the hole is good but having two is better. When you hit me earlier with your wind tunnel, I ordered some of my bugs to plug that bothersome hole of yours. And I also ordered them plug up the other one just in case and my instincts were right."

"The winner is Shino Aburame." Hayate exclaimed. Names started scrolling on the electronic board ending on Kankurou and Tsrurugu Misumi as contestants for the next match. "Will the next combatants please come down to the floor?"

Kankurou was not in the mood for banter. Tsrurugu immediately attacked Kankurou, dislocating his joints and using his chakra to wrap his body around Kankurou. This would have worked if Kankurou had not substituted himself with his puppet. The match was over quickly when the puppet wrapped its arms around Tsrurugu's body and broke all the bones in his body. The next match was now being decided as Naruto and Hinata were congratulating Shino for his victory.

Kurenai cleared her throat and pointed at the electronic board. "Should you be celebrating now?" It displayed Naruto Uzumaki vs. Ino Yaminaka.

Naruto looked at Ino and a sad look crossed his face. They quietly went down to the arena. "I am sorry Ino. I did not want to fight you."

Ino smiles "I know Naruto, but if I get you in my jutsu, I guarantee that you'll lose and I win the match."

"Well go ahead, this ought to be fun." He said just standing there.

"Begin!" Hayate cried as he jumped back.

"You mean you are just going to stand there and let me use my jutsu?" Ino was a bit flabbergasted.

"Ladies first." Naruto replied coyly.

Ino smiled 'What luck. This will be over quickly.' She proceeded to go through several hand signs. "Ninja art: Mind body transfer." Ino kneeled down nearly collapsing as Naruto looked like he was visibly hit.

--

A/N Hoped you liked this chapter. I know a shorter one but have to find a good cliffhanger right?

Thanks again to Mrs. Utachi Uchiha for her beta work. Great job.

Oh and yes the female sound nin's name is Kin. Rin was Kakashi's teammate along with Orbito.

What will happen when Ino trys to take over Naruto? Will it be a quick match or not? Enjoy...


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

Here is the expected chapter, sorry for the wait, my betas took a while and it is a long chapter for what I have, around 4000 words. I hope you enjoy...

Chapter 19 – Preliminaries continue… bad ideas…

"You mean you're just going to stand there and let me use my jutsu?" Ino asked.

"Ladies first" Naruto replied coyly.

Ino smiled 'what luck! This will be over so quick.' She proceeded to go through several hand signs. "Ninja art: Mind body transfer." Ino kneeled down, nearly collapsing, as Naruto looked like he was visibly hit.

Kurenai shook her head. 'Either that is the gutsiest idea or the stupidest move one of you have ever made.'

Asuma was just looking and shaking his head "I can't believe he would just let her do that. He has just lost." A couple minutes went by and nothing happened. "Wait she should already be in control of Naruto. This might be bad."

Ino was standing in a concrete hallway, water was ankle deep and there were pipes running all over the place. There was also wind blowing in a rhythmic pattern and Naruto was just standing right in front of her. "Wait… this isn't supposed to happen. What is going on?" Ino commented.

Naruto looking sheepishly "I am not sure myself. All I know is that this is the first time I have been here. Do you feel that breeze? It almost sounds like breathing." A look of horror comes over Naruto's face. "You have to get out of here, and I mean now."

Ino had already wandered closer to the origination of the wind. She then enters a large room with a large double gate on the far end of the room with a small piece of paper over the two gates with the kanji of seal on it. Curious, she starts to approach as Naruto enters the room. Large red eyes appear behind the gates.

"So you bring me an offering kit?" A booming and gravelly sounding voice comes from the cage. "Come closer little girl, let me feast upon your marrow."

Ino continued to approach the gates. Naruto ran up and just barely caught up with her. He then quickly pulls her away just as a large set of claws come through the gaps in the bars just missing her. "That was too close. Dammit fox why did you attack her?" Naruto asks angrily. Ino is just in awe as the outline of a huge fox appears behind the bars. It appears to be smiling a very sinister grin.

"I thought you brought me a peace offering. I guess I was mistaken." An evil laugh follows the statement.

"Shut up you damn fox!" Naruto replies coldly.

"I like your spirit kit. Call me again if you are ever in need. Also I would like to talk some time, it is lonely down here." The fox says as it disappears back into its cage. The body fades leaving only the eyes and they eventually faded too if only after a few minutes.

"Wha…wha… what was that?" Ino asks as she is panting with sweat beading up on her face.

Naruto still holding her takes a deep breath and begins. "Ok, you remember your history?" Ino nods.

"Ok, remember them telling us that the Fourth Hokage defeated the Kyubi, right?" A laugh came from the cage. Ino looked in that direction, but then nodded.

"Well, he didn't kill it." A look of terror fell upon Ino's face.

"He was not able to kill it, nobody could… he is a demon after all and no mortal can kill them outright. So he did the next best thing, well… the only thing he could do, he had to seal it in a new born baby."

Ino looked into Naruto's sad eyes, and had a feeling she knew what was coming next in her gut, as she fought back tears.

"And that baby was me." Naruto looked down at his feet. "I am sorry you had to find out this way, I did not know this would happen. I promise. I am his jailor, as you can see for yourself."

"And it has been amusing and intolerable all at the same time." Replied the fox from his cage, "Just let me out of here, and I will be able to feast on those that have hurt you over all those years kit. I promise their deaths will be just as painful as the beating they gave you, before I send them to the afterlife. I like you because you have shown me your resolve and I owe you."

"I said shut up you damn fox." Naruto yelled at the cell, tears streaming from his eyes. "Ino, please you mustn't tell anyone. This is more for your safety than mine." His eyes were pleading for her to understand. She looked at Naruto confused.

"There is a law forbidding people from talking about this, unless they have knowledge of it. I am the only exception as I am the one burdened with this." Naruto explained as Ino started to cry.

"I am sorry Naruto, I didn't know." She shook her head as more tears came welling from her eyes. "I didn't know. I am so, so sorry Naruto. Now I understand why my father said never to use any of our jutsu on you ever. I'm so sorry I have been so mean to you over the years." Ino said as she continued to cry.

"Ino you have not been as bad as some. Some have tried to kill me. Some nearly succeeded." Naruto stated nonchalantly.

Ino was shocked. She knew that he was sent to the hospital fairly often but she did not know that he had been nearly killed.

"They thought I was the Kyubi. Therefore by killing me they would be freeing the village of him. They did not understand the difference." Wiping the tears off Ino's face with his hand, "You are not a bad person, just misinformed. So how do we get out of here so you are not hurt?"

Ino makes a hand sign. "Release!"

The concrete room disappears and the arena again comes into view. After a couple seconds Ino screamed, she then slumps to the ground tears streaming from her eyes. Naruto immediately runs over to her and lifts her off the ground bridal style as Hayate looks at her. "Since Ino is no longer able to battle the winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

The medical ninja come over and Naruto carefully places Ino in the stretcher. They take her away as one asks him what happened.

"She saw something she should have never seen." Naruto slowly walks up the stairs to stand beside Hinata. She sees pain in his eyes. She puts a hand on his shoulder, and smiles at him.

"We can talk about it later Naruto-kun." Hinata squeezes his shoulder.

The electronic board now runs through the next contestants. "I always knew you would be more than a match for that wimp." Neji commented. While looking at the board, he added "and now I can remove another weakling."

Naruto and Hinata were confused until they looked at the board. Neji Hyuga vs. Hinata Hyuga. Naruto got really angry. A look of concern was on Hinata's face as she followed Neji down to the arena.

"It is fitting that the main branch should be pitted against the side branch." Neji says to Hinata as they take their respective starting places in the arena. Watching her take her stance "you know you will lose. It was preordained, it is your destiny. You are a weakling and cannot overcome that flaw in yourself. You are a failure and you always will be. Just give up the match and we will not have to subject the family honor to this shame you will bring upon it."

"I am sorry brother, I cannot just give up. I am here to show I have changed. Prepare yourself brother." She said as she activates her Byakugan.

"So you do have some courage. It will only spell your doom in the end. Give up this fleeting dream and go back to your kid games. You are not a ninja and you should have never been allowed to try." Neji continues to taunt. This even starts to annoy Hayate.

"You may begin." Hayate says as he backs away.

"You are just a shy insecure girl playing at being a ninja. You don't belong here, you should be at home. The main branch has become weak and you are epitome of this."

He starts with a left hand strike which is easily deflected by Hinata. She makes a strike attempt with her right hand but has hers is also deflected. They continue to trade blows but neither seeming to land a blow. This continues for several minutes.

Naruto can feel the chakra from the strikes even from the balcony. Neji's strikes continue to have the same intensity but Hinata's strikes appeared to be weakening. This confused Naruto, because sparing with Hinata has given him an idea of her chakra reserves. Either she is lulling him into thinking she is getting weaker or there is a big problem. She at last landed a strike but Neji does not seem fazed by it. He then pulls her sleeve up revealing chakra burns on her chakra points all over her arm.

"I have sealed up all your chakra points, now this match is over." Neji boasted arrogantly. "Like I said, this match was over before it started. Go home, you are a failure and have always been one. You are a blemish on the honor of the main branch. You should have forfeited when your name was called. It is not too late to keep the shame you will inflict on the main branch to a minimum. "

Thinking quickly, Hinata switched stances from Gentle fist style to another that Gai had only recently taught her. She then hits the quick releases for her armbands and threw them both at Neji. The first he was able to duck but caught the second in the chest knocking the wind out of him. "You are wrong," Hinata said calmly, "you are the one that is hurting. You are the one who is worried about the divide between the main and side branches. I have changed and I intend to prove it."

Neji returns to his stance looking very pissed.

"Give it up you cannot win. Once a failure, always a failure. You cannot win even if you try to change your style, it will ultimately prove pointless. Give it up and I will spare you the indignity of this loss. " Neji says as he blocks several of Hinata's attack but is hit by a few of them causing his lip to bleed and a swelling bruise to appear on his cheek. He then takes a hit to the chest as he also hit her over the heart. She stumbles back coughing up blood.

"Hinata! You are not a failure! I believe in you!" Naruto yells.

"Ah, another loser. Is that your cheering section? A loser coming from a group of losers." Turning and looking at Naruto. "You would have lost too, it is destiny. You are a loser and will always be one." Turning and looking back at Hinata who is starting to pick herself up off the floor, he spat at her. He then returns to his stance.

"Shino get ready to grab something." Naruto whispers as he mounts the railing. Shino nods at his statement.

Neji activates his Byakugan and charges as Kurenai jumps from the balcony.

Hinata's eyes roll into the back of her head and she starts to fall.

"The match is over Neji" Hayate yells, but the Hyuga genius had already landed a strike to Naruto's chest. Three jonin and Hayate held him back as Naruto staggered back, coughing up blood from Neji's hit, but was still standing.

"As expected the main family is given special privileges." Neji says as he pulls away from Gai, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Hayate.

"What is your problem Neji, I know you do not like the main branch but to try to kill Hinata?" Naruto kneeled down and wiped his hand in Hinata's blood.

"I knew you were a jerk. Killing your cousin is not right not even to become a chunin." Naruto holds the bloodstained fist out to Neji. "I swear I will beat you. Not as badly as you did her but I will show you how you are wrong. I will make you understand just how you are wrong."

"A statement from a loser is not a threat that I worry about." Neji said rudely. "Go worry about your playmate. I am sure she is in need of medical attention."

Furious Naruto runs at Neji to start an attack, but is intercepted by Rock Lee. "I know you are angry Naruto. But would it not be great if the gifted genius is defeated by sheer will power or maybe even by a loser. Now would that not be grand?"

Shino was already bringing Hinata down to the medical personnel. One came over to Naruto and asks if he needs help then but then suddenly jumps back in alarm.

Kurenai placed her hand on Naruto's head. "Your eyes are showing. You should calm down and go with Hinata." She whispers.

Somewhat mollified, he starts to calm down and headed off with the medic. As he went his eyes slowly changed from bright red to a deep purple.

"I am worried about her too." Shino said. "You did very well with that substitution. I will watch the competition for you. She will need you…now go to her."

"Thank you Shino" Naruto said quietly as he went down the hall.

Kurenai and Naruto followed until they came to the emergency room doors. Naruto was then lead to a side room where another doctor began to examine him. Kurenai accompanied him into the examination room.

Naruto continued to cough up blood. The doctor looks at him and says "if I get any information about your friend I will let you know. Now let's check you out. Tough battle?"

The doctor's hand began to glow green as he passed it over Naruto's head and moved it down his body. "Oh, I see. How do you feel?"

"Sort of tired and short of breath. Why?" Naruto asked and continued to cough up blood.

"Well if you were anyone other than Naruto Uzumaki you would be dead." The doctor says with a smile. "Well… You have a collapsed lung and torn bronchial tube. You are bleeding internally, but thanks to your guest you are healing just fine. You will continue to cough up blood for the next few days but after about an hour or two you it will not be fresh blood, the clotting and healing has already started. From what I know of medicine you would not be standing and you would have been bleeding out on the arena floor drowning in your own blood. I envy you and your ability to heal. Actually have for quite a while. I remember a patient about nine years ago with kunai wounds. I offer you the same treatment." He smiles and hands Naruto a pill. "This is a plasma pill it should help you with replacing the lost blood. It is a pleasure to treat you again. You make my job easy. I recommend a couple days rest then you can get to training. I can arrange for you to get the same room as you friend if you like." The doctor winked at Naruto causing him to blush.

"Thank you for looking at Naruto. I know most people do not like to deal with him." Kurenai said to the doctor.

"I only have one complaint about Naruto." The doctor said, as both Kurenai and Naruto began to frown. "He would always run away from the hospital too soon for me to examine him to make sure he was ok."

This brought a small laugh to Naruto who promptly coughed up more blood. "I also prescribe no laughter for the rest of the day. I will go check on your friend. Naruto please listen to my advice for once." Naruto nodded his head as the doctor left the room.

Naruto ate the pill he was given, and lay back on the examining table, suddenly very tired.

About five minutes later the doctor came back in smiling. "Your friend will be coming out of surgery soon but she is out of danger now. She will still be out of action for a month or more. Apparently her opponent did a number on her organs, but we were able to get to her in time. I hope this is good news. You will be able to visit her in about an hour." With that news Naruto started to cry as Kurenai tried to comfort him. The doctor left them to themselves.

After an hour Naruto was feeling better, but had something on his mind. "Kurenai sensei, we need to talk to Ino."

"Why? What happened?" Kurenai asked.

"We got to meet my guest."

A look of shock came across Kurenai's face.

"He almost got her when she went too close to his cage. I talked to her in my mind I think. She said that her father had told her not to use her jutsu on me. While the fox bastard was not that mean, he had a very cold sense of humor. He also told me to come and see him if I was ever in need of help."

Kurenai helped him down from the table and they walked to the infirmary holding area for all the patients. They soon found Sasuke, Ino and the others who had been injured except for Hinata.

Naruto went over to sit at Ino's bedside. "Hi Naruto," Ino said in a concerned tone. "How are doing? I heard about Hinata, I am sorry. Who knew Neji would turn out to be such a jerk?"

Tenten did not look pleased with that statement.

"I heard you switched with her, with what would have been a fatal blow." Ino continued.

This disturbed Tenten even more.

"My guess is that you saved Hinata's life. I hear you keep doing that. Soon you will have to take ownership of that." Having said that, Ino winked at Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto looked confused. "I don't understand Ino. I was worried about Hinata to be sure. I had to protect her. I knew Neji has his problems but this is like the last time when I came in and rescued her from Hanabi. This time I got a ruptured lung for my trouble."

Ino gasped. "And you are moving around now? Wow you are one tough guy." Ino said seductively.

"That maybe, but I will heal. I am also worried about you. You collapsed after your jutsu." Naruto said with a worried look on his face.

Ino waved Naruto closer. She shyly gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "You are sweet, and don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. You are one incredible guy, to deal with that thing. I hope it works out for you with Hinata." She whispered.

Naruto looked at her blushing and confused while holding his cheek. "So when can I get up again? I want to give my Sasuke-kun a great big hug." She said with a large smile while winking at Naruto. This again brought a confused look to his face.

"You can't be serious that Neji was trying to kill Hinata?" Tenten asked.

Naruto turned to her coughed up some blood into a cloth he was carrying and then said, "It looked that way, she was really torn up and then he went for a killing blow. I switched with her and took the blow for her. I knew that he was doesn't like the main branch, but I am not sure why. He was always distant after we came back to the compound after the attack on me and Hinata nine years ago."

"I was not aware you and Hinata were attacked." Tenten responded. "I know people would attack you fairly often. My father considers you a hero. I am not sure why, but he thinks you are great. I also wanted to thank you for helping save our weapons shop."

"I appreciate your father and the weapons I am able to purchase from him. They are very good quality and he does not try to charge me more than any other customer. He is a good man."

He studied her with a look of concern. "Are you ok? You took quite a hit from falling on Temari's fan."

"It still hurts some but I will be better in a few days. Thank you for your concern. I still find it odd that people do not like you. You're such a nice person. "

"Thank you Tenten. I like you too. Well I have to check up on Hinata and the finals." Naruto looked at Ino with a worried look on his face. "Sorry about what you went through."

"Hey you have a real thing problem to deal with and I do not envy you. If you need some help let me know." Ino said with a very warm smile.

"Thanks Ino, you are a good friend." Naruto smiles and walks out of the infirmary still occasionally coughing up some blood.

Kurenai leads him to another room. Hinata is lying in bed hooked up to a respirator and heart monitor. Her skin was very pale and she looks very bad. "They say she is healing better than expected. My guess is that is her guest."

Naruto nods agreement.

"Let's get back to the arena. As there is nothing we can do here."

Naruto nods as he squeezes Hinata's hand and leaves thinking 'Get better soon. I will be waiting.'

As he headed back to the arena he sees Neji in a room with a person he did not know they appeared to be yelling at each other. Not wanting to get involved they continued on.

As he entered the arena he saw Chouji and Kiba going at it. They both attacked Chouji with meat tank, and Kiba and Akamaru with their fang over fang attack. When the attacks collided the dust was brought up in the arena. When the dust cleared all three were unconscious. Hayate declared the match a draw, leaving both as losers of the preliminaries.

Shino informed Naruto that Lee had given a really good fight against Gaara but was just not able to finish the fight, and Gai had to step in before Lee was permanently hurt. With only one match to go Naruto looked over at Sakura wondering if she would be able to go through with her fight with Dosu. When their names were called she promptly told the proctor that she would forfeit the match. Naruto thought it was a smart move remembering what it was like to fight them before.

The Hokage explains that the Chunin exams are a substitute for war in a way and also a way to showing off the individual shinobi village's skills to the prospective clients. They will have a month to train and learn new skills. The third exam will be a tournament that will pit the winners of the preliminaries against each other in front of an audience. Lots were drawn, it was determined that the matches would be as follows: Naruto fights Neji, Sasuke fights Gaara, Kankurou fights Shino, Dosu fights Shikamaru and the winner of that fight will fight Temari. With that knowledge the finalist were sent off for their month of training.

--

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it and yes I changed some of the fights. Any similarities to another story is just that. So enjoy the story. I also am sorry that last chapter was mostly like cannon but was easier and wanted my Sasuke bashing limited. Again sorry for the lateness of posting this. I should have the next one in fairly short order. Please do not shoot the author, and remember this is an Alternate Universe. I have several surprises in the next few chapters so keep reading and enjoy. I will try to get the next one up ASAP, but I am limited by my Beta readers for edits and refinements, but great thanks to Alicia Kawa Uchiha for her supurb editing. And yes they have their own projects so any who want to beta let me know. Thanks RaiderXV...


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto like so many others that would like too.

Well on to the chapter enjoy...

Chapter 20 – New home

Naruto is in the hospital the next morning watching Hinata who is still hooked up to a respirator. He had a sad look on his face as he watched her slowly breathe. He did notice that her skin has gotten back most of its color. Breakfast came with his favorite nurse delivering the food.

"I know you are not happy to be here but from what I hear she will make a full recovery. You needn't worry. I know you like her. And care deeply for her. I also heard about what you did and how you rescued her. Again you are a hero. Just do me a favor." She said with a concerned look on her face.

Naruto looked up at the nurse as she continued. "You can protect her but do not shield her from harm. That will hurt her and you." She puts show him a big grin. "You will make a very nice couple when you are older."

Naruto was still looking sad but now a little confused too. "You will understand later when you accept that she is important to you. Now eat up and regain your strength you will need it. I hear that the other winner is also here in the hospital a one Sasuke Uchiha. Do you know him?"

Naruto's face grew very dark. "I see you know him. Well then I will not keep you from your friend and I hear you have family visitors. Now eat up and they will be here in about twenty minutes." She leans down and kisses him on the cheek. "You really are a special boy Naruto. May your life change for the better." She then walks out of the room.

Naruto eats with only the quiet beeping of Hinata's life support in the background. As usual the food is not very appetizing but he eats it anyways. He continues to keep an eye on Hinata hoping that she will wake up. After twenty minutes he pushes aside the tray with the plate.

The door opens and Yugito runs in and jumps on Naruto hugging him with a worried look on her face. "Naruto onii-san I was so worried about you. Are you ok? Must not you are here in the hospital. Did you really save her? I remember her. She is pretty. When are you getting out? We need to talk about your apartment." Yugito rambles as fast as she can say the words, brining a smile to Naruto's face.

"Slow down Yugito. I am fine. Well I am better now. I should be discharged later today. What happened now with my apartment? Another break in?" Both Shinbo and Yugito nodded yes to the question. "Great, not again. " Not noticing the next person to enter Hiashi. "Well I guess it can't be helped that they keep breaking in. Did they steal anything?" Shinbo and Yugito shook their heads. "Well at least that is good. How is the academy going? Have you made any new friends?"

"Yes we have made a few. Apparently you have made a name for the Uzumaki. We are supposed to be the ultimate in pranksters. Well that is ok with Yugito, but I do not like it." Shinbo replied as Hiashi laughed. Everyone turned to see Hiashi laughing.

"I am sorry for listening in on your conversation. But you have to admit that you are quite the prankster Naruto. I am glad to hear that you again helped my daughter. You have my thanks." Hiashi bowed deeply. "I see your small clan has come to see to your health. Yugito and Shinbo you are always welcome to visit the Hyuga compound. I am sure Jinzu and others would enjoy you visiting."

Hiashi's look got serious. "What is this I hear about your home being vandalized? This has happened too many times. Do they also do this to your apartment Shinbo?"

Shinbo nodded that it was so. "I see. As an ally, the Uzumaki will come under the protection of the Hyuga. Go pack your things we will find a place for you and your family Naruto. They will be welcome guests."

Hiashi looked as if he was thinking then spoke. "Yes I know there will be some problems with the elders but with this Neji incident they will accept you and your kin or they will not be happy."

Hiashi smiled at the small group. "Well Naruto, I must visit with my daughter then I will see to the arrangements about you and your family coming to live in the Hyuga compound." With a stern look but a gleam in his eyes "I will make sure you end up happy. Now if you will excuse me." He heads over to his daughter and begins talking softly to her.

Yugito's eyes light up. "Wow no more break ins. That would be great. Also Jinzu is sort of cute."

Shinbo rolled his eyes. "So Naruto is it true that you did a replacement jutsu with Hinata when she was about to be hit by Neji?" Naruto nodded, causing Shinbo to grin. This was unusual as Shinbo did not grin often. "You must like her very much to put your life in jeopardy."

Shinbo continued to smile and noticed Naruto's glance towards the sleeping Hinata. "Do not worry, give it time and you will figure it out." Naruto looked up at Shinbo with a slightly confused look on his face then turned to Hinata. Tears came streaming down from Naruto's eyes.

Yugito looked at Naruto then at Hinata. "Oniisan?" She then looked at Shinbo "you mean?" Shinbo nodded. "Oh oniisan. I am so happy for you." She then gave Naruto a big hug.

"I will tell you when you figure it out. But I am so happy for you." Hiashi smirked at what he heard but continued to talk quietly to Hinata. Shinbo noticed the smirk but said nothing. "Naruto we'll go and pack up the apartments. And have the stuff ready for when you are out so we can move it. There isn't a lot of it so it shouldn't take too long."

Naruto looked back at his family and tears were still coming from his eyes. He wiped them away to little avail. "You know Yugito there are rules at the Hyuga compound. They like calmness and serenity. So your being loud might offend some."

He started to smile. "It might also make some happy as it did when I was there before. Those of the branch family are very nice." His face went to being very stern. "But watch out for the elders. I do not trust them as they were the ones. Who caused me to be thrown out to begin with."

He then got very quiet almost a whisper. "I would tell Hiashi about your secret. He is trustworthy and knows about Hinata's and mine. If we are going to live there it would be a good idea to inform him."

Putting up a hand to stop their complaints, "I am not telling you to tell him but it would be a good idea. He understands what we are going through. As it stands now I would avoid Hanabi and the elders. He is a nice guy if a little stuffy at times. Guess it comes with the Hyuga name. If you have a problem with it I will not tell him. It is up to you."

Shinbo got up from his chair and walked over to Hiashi. "Excuse me sir."

Hiashi looked at him "how may I help you young man?"

"Sir I must first give you my condolences at your daughter's injuries. Second I would like to thank you for the offer of giving us refuge in the Hyuga compound. Naruto has accepted for himself, Yugito I am sure will accept, as will I."

Hiashi nodded upon hearing this. Shinbo looked at Yugito with a questioning look, she looked back and nodded. "We wish to first let you know something about ourselves that you may not be aware of."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. Bowing "Hiashi-sama we know about Naruto and Hinata and there are few things you should know about us before you agree to house us."

Hiashi nodded and pointed to a chair by them. "Please sit and we shall discuss what you think I should know. First what do you know about Hinata and Naruto?"

Shinbo sat down and smiled lightly. "First we know that Naruto cares deeply for Hinata. Second we know that they both are containers for demons."

Hiashi was surprised but did not show it and nodded to continue. "We found this out when we came here." There was no reaction from Hiashi. "Naruto and Hinata told us this." He paused looking very nervous. "Because both Yugito and I both contain demons. I am sorry." He stood and bowed deeply.

"It is ok young man. I was wondering why Naruto would allow people to take his family name who did not appear to have any of his lineage. I can tell that you are either a child of Orochimaru or your burden is a lizard type."

Shinbo nodded. "She moves with the grace of a cat. Would you be the container for a demon cat?" Yugito nodded with a very surprised look on her face. "I actually had Jinzu meet you and try to make friends with you to find out information about you. I am sorry to deceive you like that but I was looking out for Naruto. He can at times be too trusting. Jinzu was surprised that both of you are very nice people in your own ways. I will admit that Naruto chooses his close friends well."

Taking a deep breath "I understand the burden you carry. I did when I brought Naruto into my house twelve years ago and when Hinata was sealed with a demon nine years ago."

Hiashi stood then bowed deeply. "I am grateful for the service all four of you do for us. You contain beasts that would be ravaging the human world otherwise. For that you have my eternal thanks. I would advise that you not let most people know about your respective friends too often. As you have found that most people will not like those who are containers."

He again sat down on the chair next to Hinata's bed. "I do not know the full burden or what you have gone through getting here. It is your choice in letting me know of this information. I will not force you. Yes I know that Naruto does care deeply for my daughter. He is an incredible young man." Naruto put on a huge foxy grin with that statement.

Shinbo waited for a moment to see if Hiashi would speak more, when he did not Shinbo spoke up. "We are also refugees from Kumo. The Raikage is the one who did this to us."

He paused with a look of pain upon his face. "I was put in jail soon after birth and raised by a man who I call father. He trained me in sealing and then his death helped me escape. Yugito was adopted by the Raikage but spurned as a defective child. I met her as I was making my escape and we joined up and then left Kumo to find Naruto. The reason he did not like either of us was that we would not become unthinking weapons for him."

He again bowed. "I just thought you should know these things so that you know what you might be getting yourself into with us living in your home."

Hiashi smiled. "There is no love lost between the Hyuga and the land of lighting. They are the ones who sealed a demon into Hinata in the first place. While I curse them I will never curse my daughter. She has a destiny."

Looking directly at Naruto "as do you son." He then grinned almost like Naruto as if he knew something.

This grin sent shivers down Naruto's spine. "But I will not tell you yet." This look disturbed Naruto to no end. He had never seen Hiashi smile like that. He had seen him happy but not as if he was up to something. This sent more chills up Naruto's spine.

Hiashi looked back at Shinbo. "I will send some of my men over later to help you move your stuff into the compound. I would like to thank you for being frank with me about your situation. You will be treated as honored guests, and hopefully eventually family." All three of the containers looked confused but nodded and smiled.

"Thank you Hiashi-sama. Yugito and I will go pack up our apartment and Naruto's also. We should be done in a couple hours after class at the academy. Again thank you for your gracious offer. We will try not to offend you or your clan. Shall we go Yugito?" Shinbo said as he got up and started to leave the room.

Yugito nodded and then hugged Naruto. "I will see you later onii-san." She quickly got up and ran to the door.

Hiashi kissed his daughter on the forehead and walked over to Naruto and sat beside him. They sat looking at each other for a couple minutes. Naruto started to sweat and then swallowed hard. Hiashi spoke first. "Naruto, what is Yugito to you?"

Naruto cocked his head and looked questioningly. "She is my little sister of course. And Shinbo is my younger brother. They know the pain of being a jinchuuriki. Of all of us Hinata has been the luckiest."

Hiashi looked at Naruto questioningly as Naruto continued. "She had Jasmine, her mother, and you. I know you have been hard on her recently but I understand why. You see her strength but are not sure how to get to come out."

Hiashi nodded impressed by Naruto's accurate insight. "She is my dearest friend and I thought the time I spent at the Hyuga compound was the best time in my life."

Naruto a very sad look came over his face. "When you told me I had to leave, it broke my heart. I had to leave you and Hinata. I knew you were hurting as much or more than either Hinata or me with the death of Jasmine. I figured it out a couple years later. She was wonderful, she would take us, Hinata and I, places all the time. Spend time with us. She would even chase off the occasional jerk who would call me demon. I loved her like a mother. I felt like you were the father I never had. Hinata was my friend but never my sister." Hiashi smirked at that. "I am kind of glad that she was friend not a sister."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "How is that Naruto?"

A blush came over Naruto and he was not sure why. "Not to be insulting or anything but." Naruto was wracking his brain on how to say it without insulting Hiashi or angering him. "I… I… think I like her more than a friend. If that is alright sir. I know that I am not liked by most. And if it is a problem I will not do anything that will cause you any problems." He cringed to wait for Hiashi to blow up.

Hiashi got a stern look on his face. "Are you asking me permission to date my daughter?"

Naruto shrinking into the bed "Well... Maybe…"

Hiashi had to suppress a smirk. "You may not at this time." Naruto was hurt but was surprised that Hiashi was not yelling about him asking to date his daughter. "You will have to wait until she is thirteen before you may ask her. After you ask her you will come before me and tell me what she has decided. At that time I will decide if you are worthy of this honor."

Naruto bowed in his bed. "Thank you Hiashi-dono. I will endeavor to be worthy of Hinata-chan. I know she deserves better than me. But I would like to see where this feeling I have will take me." Naruto then scratched his head. "Heck I am not even sure she will accept me asking."

"Do not sell yourself short Naruto. You have brought the Leaf a couple new potential shinobi of good talent. You have protected my daughter on numerous occasions. And you are a hero for keeping the demon at bay."

Hiashi inwardly smirked. "While I cannot talk about my daughter's feelings, you are special. That is all I will say until I see you later to bring you back home. I must inform the council that there are going to be guests at the compound." With that he left a stunned Naruto.

A couple hours later there was a knock on the door. "Hey brat can we come in?" Naruto immediately recognized the voice, it was Zabuza.

"Sure come in but keep it down." Naruto answered.

Zabuza and Haku entered both sporting new headbands with the leaf symbol on them. "Good morning Naruto. I am pleased to see you are ok. When I heard you had a collapsed lung I was worried." Haku stated politely.

Zabuza laughed gently. "I see they already have you shaking up with a female. Good for you." Zabuza laughed even harder when Naruto blushed a very bright red.

"We just wanted to come by and say thank you for what you did for us and talking to the Hokage. You saved us from having to run any more. Or possibly ending up dead. They have put us on probation for six months. I am jonin, and Haku is genin. That should change soon but we shall see."

Zabuza moved closer. "Do you know where Kakashi keeps his books? I want a copy of that Icha book." Naruto rolled his eyes. While he did know he was not going to tell Zabuza. Just what Konoha needed another pervert. "Oh well if not that is fine. If you need a sparring partner for your Chunin exam training let Haku and I know we will gladly hurt… I mean spar with you." Zabuza chuckled as his verbal misstep.

Haku smiled at her friend's being made to be uncomfortable. "Good bye Naruto-kun we shall see you around. And good luck on the Chunin exams. Also if you get a chance let Lady Hinata knows we are wishing her a quick recovery and good health." With that statement Haku and Zabuza left the room. The next to enter the room were the members of team 7 minus Sasuke.

"Hey idiot." Kiba started into Naruto who they saw was watching Hinata. "Sorry, Naruto. You did a good thing for Hinata." Kiba looked at his friend who he could see was hurting. "I hear you are getting out later today. Got any plans for training? If you need me I will try to help you."

"You mean you don't want to help Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Sure I would. Like he would ever ask either of us to help him. Ow!" Kiba retorted as Sakura hit him.

"So how are you Naruto? I know this is a lot to take in." Kakashi asked.

"Fine I guess. I just wish there was more I could do for Hinata. They say she will wake up tomorrow." Looking angry "I just can't believe that Neji would try to kill her. Her of all people, she is so kind." Naruto started to cry, not able to stem the flow of tears.

"I know you are hurting Naruto. But your little stunt saved her life. Also I hear you are going to be living at the Hyuga compound." Kakashi commented.

Naruto tears lessened as he looked at Kakashi. "How do you know that? He only told me that earlier today."

Both Sakura and Kiba looked at Kakashi for an answer. "Well being your guardian makes me privy to this. Also the Hokage and I have to approve of it. I am just wondering if the Hyuga council will be in one piece after your return. I am not sure if they will have the balls to say no to Hiashi after what happened at the exams."

Naruto cheered up at that statement. "I also advise you avoid Neji until you have your match." Looking directly at Naruto, "if he does anything to bother you just walk away. You can settle your differences in the ring. Not at the compound. Do I make myself clear?" Naruto nodded. "Well we just wanted to see you and see how you were doing. We also wanted to check up on Hinata also. You know to make sure you did not take advantage of her." Kakashi left with a smile on his face.

Around noon Shino and Kurenai entered the room. "Naruto, I have some news for you." Kurenai explained. "I have found you a trainer that will help you for the exam. And before you complain, I am not the best for you to try to train you. I am a genjutsu expert, thus I can train neither you nor Shino properly in what would be truly best for you. I can give you training during our daily training but I am not an expert on either of your specialties." Naruto just nodded. "I have gotten the services…"

--

A/N: Who did she get to train Naruto? And yes she is much nicer than Kakashi in how she deals with it. She does not favor either student like Kakashi did in cannon. Also be happy for now as the Uzumaki clan is moving. But is all fine in the Hyuga compound? See next chapter. And thanks for the help Chewee cookies.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...

Enjoy the chapter. :D

Chapter 21 – Meetings…

Around noon Shino and Kurenai entered the room. "Naruto, I have some news for you." Kurenai explained. "I have found you a trainer that will help you for the exam. And before you complain, I am not the best on too try to train you. I am a genjutsu expert, thus I can train neither you nor Shino properly in what would be truly best for you. I can give you training during our daily training but I am not an expert on either of your specialties." Naruto just nodded. "I have gotten the services…"

A chill ran down his spine when he heard the voice coming from the hallway. "Of me, Ebisu. I will be your special trainer Naruto. We will work on some special things that Kurenai and Guy are not equipped to train you in. How does that sound?"

"Why the hell would I want a closet perv like you training me?" Naruto yelled at Ebisu. This perked Kurenai's and Shino's interest, hearing that Ebisu was a closet pervert.

Quickly running up to Naruto and covering his mouth. "I will do whatever you want just don't tell anyone about that day."

Naruto giggles and grins like a fox. "Ok, but remember your promise."

Kurenai looks at Naruto. "You know Ebisu? When did you two meet?"

Naruto grins and says. "Well… I helped him out with Konohamaru. He was having problems with him and I was able to set him straight." A look of great relief came over Ebisu.

"Yes, Naruto was able to convince Konohamaru that there is no easy way to be Hokage. A lesson that I was not able to teach him myself. And for that help I am very grateful." Ebisu responded. "We will start tomorrow and meet for lunch Naruto. I will see you then." Ebisu left without another comment.

Shino's eyebrow rose above his glasses "closet pervert?"

Naruto shook his head. "Long story, I will tell you after the chunin exams. Well at least training might be entertaining." Naruto snickered.

"I hear you are moving today. Please do not let your anger at Neji get the best of you." Kurenai asked Naruto.

Naruto chuckled. "You know sensei you are the second sensei to tell me that. Kakashi was here earlier. You know my brother and sister also are being allowed to live there too?"

Kurenai smiled. "Did they share with Hiashi?" Naruto nodded. 'He is a better man than I thought.' "You know I am not pleased with either Hiashi or Neji. This whole affair is improving my opinion of Hiashi Hyuga though. Didn't you live with the Hyuga when you were younger Naruto?"

"Yes I did. But when Jasmine Hyuga died the clan council forced Hiashi to ask me to leave. And then began my decent into hell." Naruto showed a lot of pain recounting what happened when he left. "I was given place to live and a chunin to guard me. She was like a sister I never had."

"What happened to her?" Shino asked.

"She was killed in an assassination attempt on me by the Uchiha clan." Naruto laughed. "The funny thing was that she was an Uchiha. I just thought she was doing her job, I found out later that she actually did more than she was told to do… She cared." Naruto eyes burned at the memory.

Kurenai came up to Naruto and embraced him in a hug. "I know all about it. You have not led a charmed life. Most don't know all that you have gone through. I read the reports and there were a lot of them. The beatings, the broken bones, the attacks, the assassination attempts, the good thing is that you are not there anymore Naruto. Your team cares for you and you are safe from those nightmares. If you need anything let me know."

Naruto squeezed tighter as the tears flowed freely. "Thank you sensei." They stayed there for a long time. Naruto finally let go and Kurenai broke away. "Shino, can I have a moment alone with our sensei? Thank you for coming though." Shino nodded and he left the room.

"Ok Naruto what is it? I know something is troubling you. What is it?" Kurenai asked.

Naruto looked like he had several conflicting things going on in his head. "Sensei, what are the rules with intergroup relationships?" He was looking over at Hinata.

"Oh one of those questions." She smiled 'finally noticed huh?' "Well Naruto there are few rules. There are some dealing with sensei and students but other than that there are none." Looking at him with understanding eyes "you like her don't you?"

Naruto looked up at Kurenai with eyes ready to cry. "She has been my friend since before I can remember. I feel felt part of me die seeing her on the bed looking so pale and helpless. I think I would be lost without her." He swallows hard. "I know I care for her more than I would a close friend but I do not know…" He shakes his head as if confused. "I don't know what I feel."

Kurenai puts her hand on his shoulder. "As long as you do not let it affect the team you can have whatever relationship you wish with Hinata. As long as Hiashi approves I care not. I do not want you to take her safety above Shino's or mine." Naruto nodded at this. "So what changed?"

Naruto looked at Hinata then back at Kurenai. "The moment I knew that Neji wanted to kill Hinata… I just knew I could not let that happen and would be lost if I lost her. I could not let it happen I just had to make sure he did not succeed. I still can't figure it out. Does that make sense to you?"

Kurenai smiled "You are lucky Naruto. Most of us go through our entire lives to find someone we are willing to die for. I will not tell you what the answer is. You will have to figure it out yourself. My only advice is to follow your heart. It may break or it may find something wondrous. None of us know. I wish you luck on the journey."

Naruto smiled meekly, "Hiashi said I could ask her to date when she turns thirteen." Kurenai looked shocked. "Yah, I was shocked too. I figured he would beat me for even asking."

Kurenai chuckled "You have guts I'll give you that. Asking the head of the Hyuga clan to date his daughter, now that takes guts. Guess Neji is in big trouble if he thinks he will have an easy victory. Strike that, I am sure you are going to teach him a lesson." They both laughed.

Naruto was checked out around one in the afternoon. He spent the rest of the day watching over Hinata trying to figure out why he felt what he felt about her. He was not sure how he was going to deal with being under the same roof as Neji, but he figured he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

At the Hyuga compound in council chambers Hiashi was grilling Neji in front of the whole clan council. "What part of being her personal guard do you not understand?" He raised his hand to forestall Neji from answering. "I understand you were in the Chunin exams. But that does not give you the right to attempt to kill, even possibly murder my daughter."

Hiashi was yelling just centimeters from Neji's face. "She is the heir, you were her guard. The match was over. By all accounts you should have been disqualified. You are here by ordered to not confront Naruto Uzumaki until your match. You are also ordered to act civil and not provoke him. I will pull you out of the Chunin exams if you do. You are dismissed." Neji left the room. 'Now for the big fish.'

"We are now going to accept the Uzumaki into the compound and offer them sanctuary. Are there any objections?" Hiashi coldly asked.

One council member Mancha rose to his feat. "I object on the grounds that the demon will have undue influence upon the heir and your other daughter. Isn't enough that we put up with him being on the same team as Lady Hinata?" A couple other council members agreed with Mancha's logic. Most saw what was coming, Mancha apparently did not, while the others did and did not want to be in the way when Hiashi exploded.

"I see. And why do you call Uzumaki-san a demon? Is it because he is a jinchuuriki?" He waited a moment for an answer, when none came, he then spoke. "How many of you would lay down you lives for Lady Hinata?"

He knew this was a trick question, as all raised their hands. "How many of you have risked your lives for her?" None raised their hands. "How many of you oppose the Uzumaki from staying here?" He saw five of the fifteen members raise their hands. "How many of you oppose just Uzumaki-san?" There were only three hands. "Given this small minority, why would the council oppose adding a strong genin, and two strong academy students to this household?"

"Because he IS the demon, and he and his circus group would disrupt the order of the Hyuga. He also could not be trusted to leave Neji alone for a day let alone a month. And your daughter would be corrupted by his influence."

"So my daughter has been and will be corrupted by Uzumaki-san?" There were five nods. "So continued exposure will cause irrefutable harm?" Again the five same nods.

He walks over to the five but does not look at them. "Have you met with and talked to Uzumaki-san?" All five shook their heads no. "So you are basing your opinion of a shinobi of the leaf without even having met him?" All five nodded their heads."Has he wronged you since becoming a shinobi?"

They shook their heads. "So you base your opinion on him having been selected by fate to be the container of the Kyubi? By his life before becoming a shinobi? By his actions after being forced out of this compound by this very council, against my wishes I might add? For finding a creative outlet for what was done to him?" He pauses for a minute. "Do any of you know what happened a few nights he moved out?"

"I heard he was attacked and sent to the hospital." A lone council member stated.

"Yes, he was attacked beaten, and nearly killed. ANBU caught all but one of the attackers. The report stated that including cuts, bruises, and broken bones he suffered chakra burns. As if he received them from a juken strike from a Hyuga. Care to explain Mancha?" The council all looked at Mancha.

"How should I know? What are you talking about?" Mancha questioned looked visibly nervous.

"Your brother died seven years ago. From what did he die from if you would please inform the council?" Hiashi asked.

Mancha was visibly sweating. "A heart attack, yes. It was a heart attack. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you came to the council as the one who succeeded your brother didn't you?" Mancha nodded. "Did you know that ANBU investigate all deaths of shinobi, even natural causes?"

Mancha was starting to fidget. 'I have you now you evil man. You attacked Naruto that night and your brother found out and then blackmailed you and you killed him. I have to play this right and they will fall like a house of cards.' Hiashi thought with satisfaction.

"They found traces of chakra near the heart, enough to sever a couple of the main veins. This appeared to be done over time as there was scar tissue around the heart. I always remember that you liked to pat your brother on the chest, didn't you?"

Mancha looking around "What are you talking about Hiashi? The medical examiner declared it death by natural causes. Why are you accusing me of murdering my brother?"

"I have not accused you of it, but I have evidence that you were complicit in the attack on Naruto Uzumaki that night and on several other occasions. You have just fixed my founded fears that you are the monster here and are complicit in both of the cases. ANBU asked that I hand you over to them for questioning. I was never given the order. Why do you ask?"

He pointed at the five that had opposed him tonight. "All five of you conspired to cover up an investigation and forged documents in my name to cover up your involvement in murder for power and attempted murder of a citizen of Konoha. I am sure Ibiki will enjoy your company."

Hiashi smiled and snapped his fingers and ten jonin of the Hyuga appeared around the five men. "Take them to Ibiki for questioning involving the death of Yami Hyuga, attempted murder of Naruto Uzumaki, and conspiring to circumvent the head of the family with forgery."

The five men were taken away in a flash. Hiashi turned his back and asked his question again. "Are there any opposed to the Uzumaki moving into the compound?"

No one dared move the wrong way. "Good we will expect our guests later this afternoon, I am sure that Yugito and Shinbo will be here a little while after the academy. I will personally bring Naruto back from the hospital. I will personally select the cadet branch member who will be working with them both. And next time the council wants to countermand the head of the family they should talk to it first. If I find that any of you are complicit in this I will personally kill you myself. Good day." With that Hiashi left the council chambers.

Back at the apartments Yugito and Shinbo were finishing up the packing. "Shinbo did we get everything?" Yugito asked.

"No not quite. I know Naruto has some hiding places for stuff. And we need to make sure we get his plants." Shinbo replied. There was a knock on the door which Shinbo answered. "Greetings, how may I help you?"

Standing outside the door were four Hyuga. "We are here to help you move. Just show us what needs to be moved and we will take care of it." One of the Hyuga answered.

"We are almost finished we just need to find where Naruto hid his stash. Could you take a look and we will get it for him and then we will be ready to be head out." Shinbo replied.

The Hyuga activated his Byakugan and found all three of his stashes of comics and valuables. They packed these in a special box and started to move the boxes back to the compound. They were able to move all the boxes without incident. The landlord was very happy to not have the Uzumaki under his roof any more. They find spacious rooms when they were assigned too. They also found out that they were to be housed in with the branch family.

Back at the hospital Naruto is finally kicked out of the hospital late that evening as he continued to watch over Hinata. Hiashi meet him outside of the hospital. "I am glad to see that you are worried about my daughter Naruto. Would you please walk with me?"

Naruto with a sad look on his face he turned and looked up at Hiashi and just nods while following him. "You know Naruto I am impressed with your performance." He pauses and notices Naruto just nod. "Come with me back to the estate, you can rest and we will talk in the morning." Naruto just nods and follows.

Naruto and Hiashi notice that one of the guards shows his animosity towards Naruto when he approaches with Hiashi. "You what is your name?" Hiashi asks.

"Shinta, my lord" the angry guard answers.

"Well Shinta, is this how you greet the head of the household?" Hiashi inquires.

"No my lord, but we have orders from the council to not let the demon into the compound."

"You would deny entry to an honored guest in front of me?"

"No my lord of course not" Shinta wearily answered.

"You will put yourself on report. And after that you will work on hiding your emotions or change your opinion of a person who has saved the heir more time than I care to think. You will either treat my guest with respect or you will be punished. Do I make myself clear?" Hiashi angrily stated.

He turned to Naruto not even worrying about the guard's response. "I am sorry Naruto, I know you are tired. Let us go and prepare your room and then we can discuss things in the morning at breakfast. Naruto just nodded and followed along.

Naruto looked around and things became familiar as they stopped in front of door. "My old room?" Naruto asked. Hiashi nodded. "You are giving me back my old room Hiashi-sama?"

"Yes Naruto, it has always been yours. Your stuff has been put in the room. I hear they even found your stashes and they are there too. Your room as always has privacy seals so the Byakugan will not see in unless it is deemed and emergency." Naruto nodded at this.

Hiashi continued. "Breakfast is at nine, and lunch is at noon. Based on the clothes we got we purchased some clothes for you to wear around the compound." Hiashi bowed deeply to Naruto. "Welcome home. You are a guest and you are family."

Hiashi then look at Naruto with a stern look. "As I said before you and my daughter may not date until she is thirteen. That is if she will accept you. You are teammates, comrades, and close friends. When Hinata is up to it we will work on your manners I am sure that they have fallen since you were here last."

Naruto looking very sheepishly "Well I would agree. Thank you for the warm welcome. I am tired and need some rest as I have to meet my new sensei tomorrow morning." Bowing deeply "Thank you very much Hiashi-sama. I will see you in the morning."

He headed into the room. He found several boxes stacked on the side of the room and found the bed already made. He stripped down to his boxers and curled up under the covers and went to sleep thinking of Hinata.

He woke up no longer in his bed but in the same sewer setting as before when he met the fox. He was of course dressed only in his boxers. He walked towards the area where the fox was sealed. When he entered the room he was assaulted by loud sinister laugher. "You amuse me to no ends kit." The fox spoke to him in a condescending manner.

"Okay fox why did you call me here?" Naruto asked. "I hope not to just embarrass me."

The fox grinned behind its bars. "You are developing nicely. Just remember if you die I die." The look on the fox became serious. "As I said you amuse me kit. And I am gracious to you. I now am indebted to you kit. I will give you my chakra when you request it."

The fox continued, "Now you must understand that my chakra will cause some problems with you. Also do not ask for too much at once. It will destroy your body. You are tough for a human but you are still fragile. And I can only help you so much." Naruto nodded understanding.

"I will let you know why I owe you later but when you get a chance to go near that female you are starting to like, ask her to bring her demon chakra up and bring up mine also. Then clasp hands while you have both summoned these chakras. You both will find out something interesting. Good night kit."

Hinata wakes up in front of a small white mansion. It is surrounded by lavender flowers. The smell of the flowers fills the air. Hinata walks to the front gates but there is piece of paper on the gates with the word seal on it. She looks through and sees a large mass of light purple fur. She looks at the mass of fur as it rises and falls. A deep melodic voice calls to her. "Come here kittling. I will not harm you. For I am here with you all the time. I am so tired, but we will survive. I need more time but I need to talk to you."

Hinata approached the gates. "Who are you? Why am I here?"

The voice laughs. "So many questions, but I have only time for a few answers. Kittling you nearly died, if not for me and that boy, your cousin would have killed you." A look of shock came over Hinata's face.

"I can heal you but I had only just started to wake when you were able to tap into my powers. This has drained me. Now I am healing you. You will be fully healed in a about a month and a half. Do not do anything strenuous. Also do not call upon me until then as it will hurt us both. "

"But who are you? And why am I not afraid of you?" Hinata asked.

"You are not afraid of me because I have been with you for over nine years." Hinata's face showed shock. "Yes kittling, I am the demon that is sealed within you. I am the mate of the Kyubi. He is my master and my mate. You may address me as Hime."

Hinata nodded to the mass of fur. "I cannot stay awake long as I am tending our wounds. As you grow our connection will grow stronger. Get close to your friend Naruto as he is the vessel for my mate. When you do summon my chakra and tell him to do the same while clasping hands. But do not do this until we are healed."

Hime continued. "I must tell you to avoid your cousin as he did mean to kill you. Avoid him as much as you can. Farewell for now, we will talk again kittling." The world went black and pain came back to her body.

A muffled moan is heard. "She is waking up. Make sure she has enough pain killers." A voice was heard and she felt hands touching her arms. "Move brat, we need to make sure she is ok." She feels a hand pulled away from hers. She begins to smell the antiseptic smell of a hospital room. She begins to open her eyes as the pain lessens. The light is bright almost blinding.

"Take it easy young lady. Do not rush it you will be sent home later today. Get that demon brat out of here!" two orderlies grabbed Naruto and pulled towards the door.

"No! She is my friend! I will not leave!" She heard then saw Naruto being pushed out the door.

Her throat hurt as she reached out for him and tried to speak. All she could do is croak out something unintelligible. "Take it easy he will not bother you. You are safe. Relax your father will be here soon to take you home for more care. All you need now is rest." The doctor told Hinata as tears started to stream from her eyes. She could hear Naruto screaming out in the hallway.

--

A/N: Ah the suspense... what is going on? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lots of things happen now what is going to happen? I as overlord am the only one who knows.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine...

Chapter 22 – Enter the Toad Sage

Naruto was screaming in the hallway. "Let me go! I want to see Hinata-chan! Let me go." Naruto started to regain his composure.

A voice behind him caused him to jump. "Why are you holding the hero of the Hyuga?" Hiashi looked very angrily at the men holding Naruto. "Who told you he could not see my daughter?"

"The doctor ordered him out so he would not influence the heir of the Hyuga with his demon ways." One of the orderlies answered, bringing a very strong air of killing intent from both Naruto and Hiashi. This caused them to back away from Naruto.

"Two thing you will know and know them now. Naruto Uzumaki is a teammate of Hinata Hyuga, thus he will be able to see her. You deny that for any reason you will have the Hokage, their sensei, and me to deal with." He put the most emphasis on himself. "Secondly, he is a guest of the Hyuga and will be treated as if he was a Hyuga. Do I make myself clear?"

The orderlies nodded and moved out of their way. Hiashi entered the room and saw his daughter crying, she did brighten up with his next words. "I met a friend who wanted to see you. And walk you home with me. If that is alright with you my daughter?" She looked past her father to see a blushing and waving Naruto. She immediately smiled and nodded.

This brought a sour look to the doctor's face. "She is still very injured. While she is healing at an astounding rate she will not be ready for duty for over a month. She will need about three weeks until she will be able to do normal activities, about a month and a half before she can start training. I also advise her not have any contact with that… that… monstrosity." He stated with venom while pointing at Naruto, eliciting an angry glare from Naruto and a raised eyebrow from Hiashi.

"I see, is that your expert medical opinion?" Hiashi asked and the doctor nodded. "For the hero of Konoha, you recommend isolation and scorn?" The doctor's eyes went wide. "Thank you for your opinion and I will take it under advisement. But for now I am here to take my daughter home to be cared for by the clan physician. Naruto you will of course push the wheelchair?" Naruto nodded as an orderly brought a wheelchair into the room.

Naruto leaned over the bed while picking her up bridal style and setting her gently into the chair. "Easy now we need to make sure you are treated like the princess you are." Naruto whispered into her ear causing her to blush profusely, and bringing a smile to Hiashi's face. "I get you home and then I have to say goodbye as I will have to meet with Ebisu for training for the Chunin exam. I am going against Neji." This brought a frown to Hinata as she knew that he nearly killed her.

"You will be careful won't you Naruto-kun?" Hinata shyly asked as they left the hospital and headed towards the Hyuga compound.

Naruto laughed. "Of course I will be careful, when am I not careful?"

Both Hiashi and Hinata both laughed at Naruto's statement. "You are rarely careful Naruto-kun. You will put your heart into it and then you will do your best to make it occur no matter what the cost." Hinata explained.

Naruto blushed, "what is wrong with putting everything into what you are doing?"

Hiashi spoke up at this question "if you have not planned ahead you will not be able to win. Neji is a very strong young man. More than likely the strongest of all the Hyuga of your generation, sorry Hinata but it is true. This does not mean that you are weak, my daughter. You were able to take a lot of pain and suffering that he gave you but you did not yield. I am proud of that. But pushing to the point of death is not a way to be a successful shinobi. While dying is part of the life of a shinobi, seeking death is not."

They arrived at the compound where the guards greeted them all with a smile. Naruto pushed her wheelchair to her room and then lifted her from it to her bed. He gave her a hug and then ran off to find Ebisu for training. "He is a good boy, and will become a good man. Do not let him go if you can help it Hinata." Hiashi commented as he left her room and shut the door.

Naruto was running at good speed as he got to Ichiraku's. He found Ebisu there waiting for him "good to see that you are at least punctual. So I will buy you lunch and then we will work on your training." He did not notice that Ichiraku and Ayame were both chuckling under their breath. "I would like a miso and whatever Naruto usually orders." Turning to Naruto "after talking to Kurenai, Kakashi, and Gai sensei I was able to deduce that one of your big problems is chakra control."

"Chakra control, why chakra control, I have a ton of chakra? Why do I need more control?" Naruto questioned as he finished his second bowl of ramen, while Ebisu was still working on his first.

"Well you see Naruto, you do posses an immense amount of chakra but you would be able to do so much more with it if you had better control. Let me give you an example." Naruto nodded. "Hinata has precise chakra control and uses just the right amount. Let us use the clone jutsu as an example. She uses just enough to make five clones. Your other teammate Shino, while his control is not as good as Hinata his abilities allow him to use only a little more than Hinata to make the five clones."

Naruto smiled "well that is good and all but I can make shadow clones and a whole bunch of them."

Ebisu adjusted his glasses. "That is not the point Naruto. For you to make one clone you would use enough chakra for either Hinata or Shino to make ten clones and yours would be pathetic. You have levels of chakra and stamina that are not even really human." Naruto looked annoyed. "Look I am buying you lunch and also trying to teach you something. You can make a ton of shadow clones yes. But how many other jutsu can you perform? Substitution and any of the simple ones you learned from the academy?"

Naruto looked down at his eighth bowl. "I can do substitution, and transformation. But I still cannot do a decent clone jutsu. Why can I do the hard jutsu but have problems with the simple and supposedly easy ones?"

Ebisu thought and then looked at Naruto. "More than likely it has to do with the seal. But we can work with you so that you will learn to become a stronger ninja. Chakra control is something that may save you. If you continue as you are now you will run into a situation where you run out of chakra. Where if you had the control I am offering you will have extra chakra in that same situation. I promise that I will try to be understanding. As you were able to help Konohamaru, I will endeavor to try to help you." Smiling at Naruto "look you were able to teach him a lesson that there is no easy road to becoming the Hokage, where I could not. For that I am in your debt. Now if you are done we will head off to train."

Naruto finished his fourteenth bowl of ramen and stood up ready to go. "Sir your bill?" Ichiraku asked as he was rubbing his hands together as if he was expecting a reward.

Ebisu turned and opened his wallet stating "certainly." He then saw the pile of bowls that were where Naruto had sat. "Naruto!!"

"Thank you and come again." Ichiraku and Ayame both said as Ebisu and Naruto left. They left the center of town and headed towards the hot springs. They arrived about fifteen minutes later.

"Ok we will be working on chakra control as I told you earlier. I know from Kurenai you have learned how to climb trees using chakra. Now we will learn how to walk on water." Ebisu explained as Naruto interrupted.

"Wait you can't walk on water."

"Oh, but yes you can. It is just taking what you have learned and going to the next level. With climbing the tree you had to learn how to keep the flow of chakra at an even and steady rate of release. When walking on water you need to change the flow of chakra to counter the sinking and the ever changing surface. Thus you will learn how to control the flow of chakra by adjusting it as needed. As you become more proficient you will learn how to do this without thinking. Then we can progress to other jutsu that will fill you out as a proper chunin. How does that sound?"

Naruto watched as Ebisu gathered chakra into his feet and stepped onto the water. "Ok maintain and change the flow of chakra so that I can maintain myself on the surface." Naruto said to himself as he gathered chakra into his feet. He stepped onto the water and promptly sank in. "OW!! HOT!!"

Ebisu shifted his glasses and stated. "Well what did you expect? We are at a hot springs by the ways. Also consider it as motivation to get this jutsu correct." Naruto's next few attempts met with similar results. Ebisu continued to watch as Naruto was able to hold himself higher in the water each time he tried. He was able to stand only ankle deep when he pointed at something behind Ebisu and then lost concentration and fell all the way into the water. Ebisu looked at Naruto who was just pointing at a white haired main peeking into the woman's bath. "I will not have any inappropriate behavior while I am present." And started to run at the man with white hair.

"Give me a break." The white haired man commented and made a single hand sign and a toad appeared under the older man. The toad reached out with its tongue and grabbed Ebisu. It then promptly raised and then slammed Ebisu into the pavement knocking him out.

Naruto witnessing this ran in front of the toad. "Hey ya old pervert. What did you do that for? Laying out my trainer like he was nothing. Come back here and make sure I get my training for the chunin exams."

"Like hell I will. Why should I waste my time with a wimp like you?" The old man retorted.

"Just who the hell are you?" Naruto questioned.

The old man does a kabuki dance on the toad's head. "I am Jiraiya, the mountain toad sage."

Naruto with a disgusted look on his face comments "more like the perverted sage."

Jiraiya jumps away as Naruto tries to follow him. After a half hour of searching he hears Jiraiya's voice coming out of a bar. "Oh come on baby you would be great…" then there was a slap. "What? You would be great. I love women who are so… so… well adjusted." This got Jiraiya another slap on the face.

Naruto saw him being slapped by a rather busty woman. "Found you, you old pervert!"

"Not for long kid." Jiraiya says as he runs off into the woods with Naruto not far behind. This chase lasted about twenty minutes when Naruto finally caught him by doing a double play and making Jiraiya think that he had fooled Naruto into following his clone away. Naruto was not fooled and was able to capture Jiraiya and get him to agree to train him.

--

A/ N: Sorry it took so long to update was working on other stories. Hope you enjoyed it.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Hey this is getting boring. You guys already know that I don't own Naruto…

I hope you enjoyed last chapter, here we go with a little fluff and a lot of Jiraiya the Kabuki dancer…. ha

Chapter 23 – Here come the toads…

"Ok kid I will train you but be here at ten in the morning at the waterfalls. Be ready to put your life on the line to do this training. Am I clear?" Jiraiya stated to Naruto.

"Ok I will be there you better not be late, I know Kakashi would do that, but I am trusting you and if you are lying to me I will ask Hiashi to give you a Juken enema." Naruto replied with a large smile.

"Sure kid I will be there, and I can get some research done while you train." Jiraiya replied.

Naruto headed back to the Hyuga compound, and found his way blocked by an elder. "You demon will not enter here, I forbid it. Guards attack him if he comes any closer."

The guards both smiled and then winked at Naruto. Naruto got a scared look on his face as he started to back up. The elder walked towards Naruto. "Run demon, the village will be the end of you. I will make sure that they know your secret and destroy you."

Naruto stopped cold with that statement. "You mean you will go against the will of the head of your clan and break the Hokage's law?"

"Yes whatever it takes to remove the stain of the Kyubi from our village." The old woman was laughing at the apparent distress that Naruto was in.

Naruto then smirked. "Ok I am sure Ibiki would like to have you as a guest in his fun house." Two ANBU agents appeared next to the elder, and the guards smiled and bowed to Naruto.

"We apologize for our showing you aggression Naruto-sama. Will you please forgive us as we were trying to help you with dealing with the elder so that we could have her removed?" One of the guards stated while still in a deep bow.

"No problem guys I am sure Ibiki will like his new friend. Keep up the good work, I could use some help on some of my pranks from you guys. You guys make good straight men." Naruto responded, bringing a smile to both the guards.

Naruto headed to Hiashi's study. He kneeled before the door and knocked. "Come." He heard from inside. He opened the door and entered the room closing the door behind him and kneeling on a pad waiting to be acknowledged. Hiashi looked up at Naruto. "Yes, how can I help you Naruto-san?"

Naruto bowed. "I am sorry Hiashi-sama." Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the start of an apology. "I have sent one of the elders to Ibiki."

Hiashi could not cover his surprise. "How and why did you do this?"

"One of the elders ambushed me at the gates and tried to force the guards on duty to attack me and prevent my entry to the compound." He raised his hand to let Hiashi know that he had more to say. "The guards both approached me in an apparently menacing fashion, but I knew they were not serious as they both winked at me. The elder then proceeded to divulge the Hokage's secret at that point and was taken by ANBU agents. The guards apologized for the deception but wanted to see how far the elder would go to keep me from the compound. I wish for the guards not to be punished for showing aggression to an honored guest." He then bowed his head to the floor.

"Naruto-san, the guards will not be punished. I am glad you were able to deal with an errant elder so effectively. Thank you for coming and informing me immediately. I will see that the guards will be rewarded." Hiashi bowed and nodded giving Naruto permission to leave.

Naruto rose and left the room. He headed to his room and then after getting some clothes he headed to the bath house. As he walked he saw Neji but made an actual attempt to avoid him and walked a longer way around past the women's bath house.

He saw many of the ladies and bowed to them as he passed. They would giggle and bow as they continued along their way. Just before he reached the men's bath house he found Neji in his way. Not wanting trouble he walked to the left of Neji but Neji shifted right to block him. He shifted right and again Neji moved to block him. Naruto shrugged. "Neji we cannot fight until the match. Look I am pissed at you so move out of my way. I have made every effort to avoid you but you are also making every effort to make a confrontation. Why?" Naruto asked.

Neji looked at Naruto with only disgust in his eyes. "Why the main branch would allow a failure and a reject such as yourself to soil the halls of the Hyuga compound it beyond me. You are nothing, no below nothing."

Naruto sighed. "Then why waste your time with someone who is lower than nothing in your eyes?"

"You have tarnished my reputation with my teammates. For that you will pay." Neji responded.

"So you are mad because I told the truth to your teammates about you trying to kill your cousin, whom is my best friend? How is that right Neji? How?" Naruto demanded.

"I will not have to be mad if you are dead. And even if she is your supposed friend why would you care if she died in a contest during the chunin exams?"

"She is one of the most precious people in the world to me and to lose her would destroy my world. You the supposed genius cannot even see that? You are gifted with blindness as well as an arrogant attitude that the world revolves around you and you alone!" Naruto now yelled at Neji.

"I don't know what chip is on your shoulder but I swear I will knock it off your shoulder in our fight. Now let me pass as I am an honored guest of the head of the Hyuga family. If you have a problem with me than take it up with Hiashi." Naruto stated as he pushed past Neji.

Naruto saw Shinbo around the corner waiting for him. "So oniisan, how are things with Neji-teme?" This caused Naruto to start to laugh. "So are we taking a bath or not? Could you help me with this as I am not familiar with how a bath house works? I understand the shower we had, but this is totally different."

Naruto and Shinbo entered the bath rinsed scrubbed then rinsed again. They then soaked in the bath and talked about the confrontation with Neji, his feeling towards Hinata, and his new training with Jiraiya. "Well oniisan, you did the right thing with Neji. As far as what to do with Hinata, I would talk to her about what the Kyubi suggested. There may be something special there that we do not know about. Good luck with the training, and let me know how it goes."

Dinner was quiet as Hiashi, Hanabi, Yugito, Shinbo and Naruto all ate quietly at the table. Naruto ate quickly but with some manners and headed to Hinata's room. He knocked but heard no reply, knocked again and no reply. He left a note under the door that he would try again tomorrow to talk to her. With that he went to bed.

He woke up the next morning, and headed to his morning training with Gai, and Lee. He found out that Lee had a shattered left leg but was able to use a crutch to move around. So Naruto was only able to spar with Gai before he headed back home for breakfast. He found that Hinata was sleeping now but would like to see him around noon for lunch so that they could talk. He ate breakfast and wished Shinbo, Yugito, and Hanabi well as they went off to the academy.

He met with Ebisu and told him that he needed to be training with Jiraiya at ten so he was excused from morning training but would have to report back to him on his progress. He arrived at the waterfalls right on time and saw many pretty women in bikinis playing near the waterfall he then went behind the bushes and saw Jiraiya. "Figured I would find you hiding in the bushes while peeking on the bathers."

"Shut up kid, I am doing research. So you ready to do some real training?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes of course. But are we going to first finish the chakra control training? The walking on water walking exercise." Naruto asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "Ok go ahead I will watch."

Naruto walked up to the side stream and at first sunk to his ankles. He then was able to stand on top of the water. About an hour later he could effectively stand on the water and not sink even with huge distractions like Jiraiya ogling the women at the waterfalls. "Ok kid go get some lunch then head back here, I am going to train you how to do a summoning jutsu."

Naruto headed home and ate lunch then knocked on Hinata's door. She quietly answered for him to come in. He entered and saw that she was still hooked up to machines but seemed more comfortable in her own bed. "Hello Naruto-kun. I am sorry I missed you last night. There was something I wanted to discuss with you if that is alright."

Naruto nodded and pulled the chair from her desk to beside the bed. "Ok Hinata-chan, you can go first as there is something I also want to discuss with you."

Hinata was not sure where to start. "I met someone while I was in the hospital." Naruto looked confused. She carefully lifted her night shirt to reveal her stomach. This cause Naruto to go three shades of red, thinking she was going to do something like either say she was pregnant or take of the nightshirt all together. Until he saw her wince in pain and then the seal appeared. He nodded that he understood what she was talking about. "She said we need to use their chakra while holding hands. We cannot do it now as I am still healing and she is very tired. She has finally woken up but is very tired. What did you wish to discuss?"

"He told me the same thing, but also told me that he owed me a favor. I am not sure why." Naruto replied.

"I think I know why. Would you like to know what I think?" Naruto nodded. "You hold the Kyubi, I hold his mate. Your saving me saved his mate. What are we going to do about this?"

Naruto was starting to get red faced again, and started to scratch his head. "Well there is not much we can do right now. We are stuck for several reasons. One you are not fit enough to do what they want us to do. Two your father has forbidden me to ask you about dating…"

Hinata interrupted with a red face. "You asked my father if we could date. And did he forbid us to date?" Hinata looked almost ready to cry.

"Well sort of. He said I could not ask you to date until you were thirteen. He also told me before we could I would have to talk to him about what your answer was." Naruto answered.

"You actually want to become my boyfriend?" Hinata asked.

Naruto was starting to get a little embarrassed. "W… well Hinata-chan. I am not sure of what my feelings are towards you." Tears started to run from Hinata's eyes. "What I am trying to say is that I felt like the world was about to end when Neji was hurting you like he was. And when I saw that he intended to kill you I thought 'I could not face the world without you'."

Hinata continued to cry but instead of sadness it was joy. She understood that he loved her but did not understand it himself and did not know how to express this emotion. His not having a family after at all after Hanabi was born and all the villagers trying to kill or just hurt him caused him not to be able to express his feeling, or at times recognize them.

She reached up and hugged him with all her might not wanting to let go, she bore through the pain. He started to cry and returned the hug but was careful not to squeeze too hard. All he could say before his throat could not speak anymore was "Hinata." He started to weep uncontrollably. The door slid open both of them heard it but ignored it.

"I must warn you that this appears to be something that is inappropriate." Hiashi said behind them. "Also Naruto don't you have to go train with the Sanin Jiraiya? He is waiting at the front gate for you with some sort of contract and says he will leave in ten minutes if you do not show up that the front gate by then."

Hinata released him a little, and Naruto complied as both were crying and looking into each other's eyes. "Go Naruto-kun. I will wait for you. We have more time to talk about upon your return." Naruto just nodded and slowly extracted himself from her grasp. He left watching her eyes as he left.

Hiashi smiled. "He is going to be a very good man when he grows up. I am hoping you can train him well. That will be your job when you are feeling better." With that Hiashi left.

Naruto sniffled and wiped his tears away as he approached Jiraiya. Jiraiya saw the look on his face and smiled warmly to the boy. 'Ah too be young and in love.' "Ok Naruto, I need you to follow me and we will need you to access all the chakra you can muster." Naruto just looked at him and then followed him back to the area near the waterfall. He unrolled the scroll. "This is a summoning contract with the summoning toads of the mountain. By signing this you are given the right to summon them. You must fist sign it in blood and then you must follow the hand signs that I show you. Like so." He works through the hand signs. "Summoning jutsu." A large toad appears in front of Jiraiya. Now you try it.

Naruto works through the hand signs slowly. "Summoning jutsu." And a tadpole appears.

"Ok you will need more chakra than that to summon a toad. Go ahead and use as much chakra as you can." Jiraiya explains.

'Ok fox I need chakra' Naruto goes through the hand signs and places his hand on the ground and a rush of chakra blows out of his hand. And he is suddenly on a toad more than fifty feet tall with a scar on his left eye, wearing a robe and a huge dagger.

"Jiraiya why have you summoned me?" The toad asks in a booming voice.

'Crap why did he summon him? Gamabunta is trouble no matter how you slice it.' Jiraiya thought. "I didn't summon you. He did." Jiraiya replied as he pointed at Naruto who was standing on Gamabunta's head.

"Don't mess with me Jiraiya! This little snot could not summon a fly if he wanted too." Gamabunta replied.

"I used the Kyubi chakra to summon you." Naruto explained.

"I see, and now I see the contract. Naruto Uzumaki eh… Well you now can summon the Toads. Do not summon me unless you have dire need. Do I make myself clear?" Gamabunta commanded. Naruto nodded his understanding. With that Gamabunta disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ok Naruto we will try to limit what you just did to between Gamabunta and the tadpole. The more refined you get with the amount of chakra the more accurate you can summon certain toads for certain jobs. Do you remember how much chakra you used to summon the tadpole?" Naruto nodded. "Ok use ten times that to summon a regular toad."

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by Naruto summoning toads of various sizes and names. He of course did not summon Gamabunta again.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I own the story and not Naruto

Hope you like this chapter… There is some angst and some fluff… you get to figure out which is which… yes I did have fun writing this chapter.

Chapter 24 – Connections…

Naruto came home very tired. He was greeted by the guard with a polite bow, which he would return to the guards as he passed them. Jiraiya told him to meet him again but at noon tomorrow for a different type of training. He entered his room and this time took a shower instead of going to the baths just so that he could avoid Neji. He was not sure why Neji was trying to pick a fight yesterday but he did not want to that problem again. He decided to make a point of avoiding him whenever and where ever possible. He tried to visit Hinata but she was sleeping and might not wake up until after dinner.

After his shower he changed into a standard robe worn around the Hyuga complex. While bland it was functional. He walked around and found the garden he remembered from years ago. It was the one the Jasmine would take Hinata and him to each week to tend to the flowers and trees. He noticed the trees were taller and some of the flowers were untended compared to what he remembered. He went to the stream and sat down on the rock bench there closing his eyes. He felt a presence but did not move or acknowledge it. He was suddenly hit in the chest and dumped into the stream. A younger voice yelled at him "what are you doing here? You do not belong here. Leave the garden or I will hurt you."

He opened his eyes to see Hanabi fuming mad at him while he was lying in the steam feeling very wet at the moment. "Why did you push me into the water Hanabi?" Naruto asked as he wiped water from his face.

"This is my mother's garden and you are not allowed in here." She answered nearly yelling with anger in her voice.

"I am sorry but I didn't know that I was not allowed. Anyways I would spend time here with your sister and mother." Looking at her sadly at her as he stood up soaked to the bone. "Do you miss her as much as I do?"

This infuriated Hanabi. "What would you know about her you are street urchin? You are not even loved by anyone. No one wants you. How would you know my mother?"

Naruto pulled himself out of the water and started to drip dry. With a faraway look he smiled. "I knew her before you were born. I was kicked out of the compound soon after she died." A sad look came over his face. "All I have now are memories of her. I remember her smile, her voice, and a few other things, like a feeling of belonging that she gave to me. I am sorry you did not get to know her."

"I do not need pity or lectures from a demon child. Why do they call you that anyways?" Hanabi questioned.

Naruto smiled and then chuckled. "You have no idea do you? Why they call me that?" Hanabi shook her head. "Well then I will tell you a story about a law and one you nearly broke, which could have cost you your life." She looked shocked. "Did you know there is a law that pertains to me and me alone?" She shook her head. "I am sure you have leaned your history on the Kyubi, am I right?" She nodded. "Ok they only told you part of the story. But remember what I am about to tell you. You cannot tell anyone who does not already know about this. You could be punished with the death penalty for breaking this law. Do you understand?"

She shook her head. "What about you and the Kyubi would have to do with a law that would require someone to die for telling people something about it?"

Again Naruto smiled. "Like I said, there is a law that only allows the sitting Hokage and me to divulge this information. For anyone else it is a death sentence." A look of surprise and shock went over Hanabi's face. "Do you understand why I am being so careful right now?" She nodded. "I do not want you to die. So why would people call me demon child?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Well for one the fourth Hokage could not kill the Kyubi."

"That is impossible. He was the strongest and killed the demon." Hanabi interrupted.

"Ah but that is what you were told. The truth is that even as powerful as he was he could not kill the demon. The Kyubi was after all the strongest of the demon lords. So he did the next best thing he could to save the village. He sealed it in a human vessel." Hanabi looked confused. "He could not kill the demon he had to remove it another way. So he sealed it in a child whose chakra system had not developed yet. This way the chakra would not have too much of an adverse effect on the person it was sealed in."

"So who was the fool that they sealed the demon in?" Hanabi asked.

Naruto just smiled. "Do you know what day my birthday is?" She shook her head. "What day is the celebration of victory over the Kyubi?"

"October tenth." Hanabi answer smiling.

"Yes. They are both one and the same. Do you know now who the Kyubi is sealed in?" She looked confused. "I was that baby that the forth sealed the Kyubi in." She looked shocked and then seemed to be a little scared.

Naruto pointed at his whisker marks, "These birth marks are from the sealing process." He began to undo his robe and revealed his stomach and molded some chakra revealing the seal. "See, there is nothing to fear. I have him locked up in side of me. I am his jailor and part time tormentor. Occasionally he torments me, it is a mutual thing." He laughs.

She moves closer and touches the seal causing him to laugh. "Does it hurt?"

"No, but if I pull too much chakra from the Kyubi it could. Now you understand why I am referred to as demon or demon child?" She nods. "Also remember you cannot tell anyone about this as I do not want you to die for making a dumb mistake. Can I ask you a question?" Hanabi nods. "Remember when I stopped you from attacking Hinata and ran to the hospital?" She nodded. "Why did you not stop when Hinata was on the ground? She was down and the match was over."

Hanabi looked sad and towards the ground. "I am sorry about that. The elder told me that unless I could decisively beat Hinata then I would have the caged bird seal put on me that night. She said that if I did not win they would immediately put it on me." She started to cry.

"I had no choice and I just got angrier and angrier until all I could do it just attack." She looked at Naruto very scared and crying. "I was scared that they would put the seal on me…" She started to cry and fell to the ground crying. Naruto noticed another presence and looked to see Hiashi standing at the edge of the garden. Naruto closed his robe and gently grabbed Hanabi's hand pulling her up and then led her to her father with his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"How long have you been there?" Naruto asks Hiashi.

"Long enough. I will walk her to her room and you can go change." Hiashi smiles "You do have a way with people."

Naruto had made it to his room and was getting out of his wet clothes when there was a knock on the door. "Just a minute." Naruto replied to the knock.

"Naruto-sama, Hinata-sama is awake and would like to talk to you when you are available." A female voice came from behind the closed door.

"Thank you I will be there in a minute, after I finish changing." Naruto replied.

Outside the door Neji nodded to the female Hyuga to leave. She had tears in her eyes as she left. He readied himself to attack as soon as Naruto exited the door. Neji was in his Juken stance waiting for Naruto to leave his room. 'I will remove this blight on the Hyuga once and for all. He has insulted the family and pulled down the main house. I will not let this continue.'

Naruto had just put on a new kimono. He felt the killing intent just as he opened the door. He immediately dodged to the left but was hit squarely in the center of his chest knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying onto and then over his bed. He landed in a heap feeling very tired. He then noticed blood on the floor and breathing was becoming labored. With each breath he would cough up blood. He pulled himself up into a kneeling position looking over the bed. He saw Neji slowly moving towards him with a smile on his face. He then saw Yugito in the door way with terror written all over her face.

She stepped into the room "how dare you attack my oniisan. You will be disqualified for sure n…" Neji hit her in the chest sending her back into the hallway landing in a heap against the far wall.

"Now where was I. Oh yes removing a stain from the Hyuga compound!" Neji smiled and continued to advance.

"You will stop now or you will feel the seal in its full force." A look of fear came over Neji's face when he heard Hiashi's voice. "You will then report to you quarters and not come out until I have talked to the Hokage."

"Hai" Neji said as he turned and bowed to Hiashi and left the room.

Hiashi ran to Naruto's side as several female Hyuga brought Yugito into his room and set her upon his bed. "Naruto are you alright?" Naruto was still coughing up blood but fell on his back when he accidentally stepped in the pool of blood on the floor. Hiashi rolled Naruto onto his side as his eyes started to flutter and his breathing started to gurgle. "Send for the doctor now." Naruto's eyes continued to flutter as the blood flowed out of his mouth as he coughed trying to breathe. "Don't try to talk, help is on the way. Naruto can you hear me? Naruto?!" Hiashi yelled at the top of his lungs.

--

A/N: Great another cliffhanger, I seem to be getting better at these… hehehe


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the most of the plotline Naruto is owned Kishimoto and not me.

I know the cliffhanger was terrible actually it was kind of fun and it played well in the storyline at least in my opinion. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter – 25 Trouble…

"Neji will receive no punishment for the altercation with Uzumaki-san." The elder stated.

"And why is that?" Hiashi questioned with barley able to contain his rage.

"He was retaliating for a wrong done to him earlier in the day by Uzumaki-san." The elder Kodai responded.

"What wrong did Yugito Uzumaki do to Neji?" Hiashi slyly turned the question.

"None so far as I know. I am referring to Naruto Uzumaki, not his dimwit sister." Kodai responded.

"You say he was justified, the rules for the chunin exam are specific. There shall be no fighting between combatants before the final exams. And this happened. I will leave this up to the Hokage and Naruto-san to decide. If they do not press charges I will not punish Neji. Also I am very angry with the council as they are coming close to being disbanded. Either they will conform or I have a new council to advise me." He emphasized the word 'advise'.

In the Hyuga medical wing Naruto wakes up to the smells of a hospital, jasmine and lavender. While he likes lavender as Hinata's perfume smells of that, he really hates hospitals. He opens his eyes and sees stark white ceiling and walls. He tries to sit up but his muscles hurt too much so he decides to just lay back and look around. He then notices an oxygen mask on his face, which he just reaches up and takes off.

He then noticed a pair of silver/white eyes looking at him. They have a look of concern on them. He realizes that the eyes belonged to Hanabi. Opening his mouth to speak he noticed that his throat hurts and is very dry, while croaking out an attempted 'hi' to Hanabi. There is a snicker to his right but is hidden by the curtains, the giggle is familiar but he could not place it.

"Naruto-san, would you like something to drink?" Hanabi asked as Naruto nodded. She moved over and grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it into a glass, handing him the glass.

Just before he got the glass he noticed another whiff of the faint lavender sent. Taking the glass he turned to the curtain. He then looked at Hanabi who just smiled shyly and nodded to him. He again tried to sit up but was not able too, so he just drank the water and mouthed the word thank you to Hanabi.

"You are quite welcome Naruto-san. Would you like the curtain pulled back?" He nodded as he started to drink again. The water burned as it went down wetting the parched throat, but still hurting. Hanabi moved the curtain to reveal Hinata laying back on her pillow but smiling at Naruto. "I will leave you two now. Again I am sorry for attacking both of you."

"You are forgiven imoutosan. I am sure Naruto will also forgive you." Hinata responded.

"Thank you oneesan." Hanabi says as she leaves.

Naruto finishes the water but only lets out a croak when he tries to speak. This causes Hinata to giggle. But this frustrates Naruto to no end, as he wants to talk to Hinata.

"Naruto-kun I would like to talk to you if that is ok." Hinata says quietly, to which Naruto just nods. "I have made contact with my companion." Naruto looks confused. Hinata blushes and then lifts her gown to reveal her stomach and points to it. She does not mold chakra as she is sure it might hurt her. "I am talking about the one sealed in me." A look of recognition comes over Naruto and he nods.

"Naruto-kun she says that we will both need to mold their chakra while holding hands." Naruto nods. "He told you too?" He again nods. "Naruto-kun, I will not be able to do that for a month and a half at the earliest." She frowns. "I am sorry." Naruto-kun gives her a sympathetic smile. "So why are you in the bed? What happened?"

Naruto takes a deep breath and then coughs hard spraying blood all over his sheets. He quickly covers his mouth. "**Great job you idiot you do not even know when to take it easy. I can only heal you so fast.**" The fox told him in his mind.

'Like I knew my lungs would have so much blood in them.' Naruto thought.

A look of panic crossed Hinata's face. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?!" This caused her to do the same thing.

A nurse came in and saw that both patients' beds were covered in blood. She stuck her head out of the room and called for a doctor. She then came into the room checking Naruto quickly as he was coughing harder than Hinata. She then shifted to Hinata. A doctor came in a few seconds later. She immediately looked at the nurse who pointed at Hinata. The doctor move over to her and made a few hand signs, her hand covering in a green chakra. She applied her hand to Hinata's chest. Hinata's coughing slowed and then stopped. She then moved to Naruto and did the same thing.

The doctor finally spoke. "Ok both of you. No deep breaths, Naruto-san no talking, and Lady Hinata do not get excited. I had to repair the work I have done. Nurse will you please leave us." The nurse nodded and left. The doctor made sure that the nurse had left hearing range and then closed the door. "Ok my name is Dr. Kikiyo Hyuga. I know about your special cases." She looking hard at Naruto, "Yes that one. You both heal quickly but the damage is extreme. Naruto you just healed from punctured lung and now your bronchial tube has been ruptured, and your lungs have a ton of blood in them it will take a few days to clear."

Turning to Hinata, "Lady Hinata, your heart, your left lung, your liver, and large intestine all took damage. Normally both of your injuries would be fatal. You both are lucky to have your special cases. But I will not allow you to reinjure yourselves. Now Lady Hinata, you can talk to Naruto-san but you must do it in quite tones. He will continue cough up blood. This much I can tell was caused by him taking a deep breath to try to speak. His is slightly damaged. So he will not be able to talk for a couple days anyways."

She looked back at Naruto, "Do not try to speak for a couple days. I will have the nurse come in and change your sheets, also buzz the nurse if either of you need to use the bathrooms." She smirked at who Naruto nodded his head and covered his crotch. "Ok I will get the nurse now. Now be good children or I will have to sedate you." She smiled as she left.

The nurse came back in and immediately went over to Naruto and helped him out of bed. Leading into the bathroom "you want to sit or stand?" Naruto pointed to the seat. The nurse closed the door and gently pulled down his boxers and set him down on the toilet. His face turned bright red from having a woman see him in the near buff to say. She quietly said "don't worry I will not tell anyone about this." She helped him stand and had him hold the rails in the bathroom for stability while she pulled his shorts back up. She then helped him back into bed while pulling off the top sheet. She moved over to Hinata's bed. "Do you also need relief Lady Hinata?"

Hinata nodded as the nurse took off her sheets, causing Hinata to turn red as the nurse accidently revealed that Hinata was wearing white panties. She had forgotten to pull her gown back down after revealing her stomach to Naruto. Quickly Hinata pulling down her gown "I am ready."

The nurse helped Hinata into the bathroom performing the same maneuver with Hinata's panties that she did with Naruto's boxers allowing Hinata to relieve herself and then stand and put them back on. "He is the one you like?" Hinata nodded.

"You have found a good one. Treat him right and he will make you happy." Hinata looked at her questioningly. "He is a nice boy and is well… I promised I would not tell." She then winked at Hinata who turned bright red and nearly fainted. The nurse helped Hinata back into bed then put new sheets on both beds. "Now you two keep it down, especially you Naruto-sama. I will come in and check on you in an hour."

Hinata still recovering from the nurses comments begins to speak to Naruto. "Naruto-kun I was told something that I did not know. I contain the Kyubi's mate. Did you know that?" Naruto had a deer in the headlights look, he then shook his head. "I am wondering how you feel about me?" She looked down tears welling in her eyes. "Do you like me because I contain the Kyubi's mate?" Naruto looked at her questioningly.

'Now that is not a fair question. How am I supposed to answer that? If I say no then it could be taken that I don't like her because of your mate, or I like her but it is not because of your mate. AH!! Help me out here fox.' Naruto thought to his prisoner.

"**How am I supposed to help you here? You cannot even get out of the bed. Maybe I can do something. Lift your gown and mold some chakra, let me put out a chakra tail and touch her with it. This might help with being able to talk to her now that you are not allowed to speak. What am I thinking, Neji did the impossible. He shut up the loudest mouth in Konoha. HA! HA! HA!**" The fox responded.

Naruto lifted his gown showing his stomach, molding chakra caused his seal to appear. Hinata looked at Naruto and was surprised at what he was doing. She then a line of red chakra moving towards her, it moved to hover over her stomach. He nodded to her 'I hope this works you silly fox.' Naruto thought.

"You want me to reveal my stomach Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded. She lifted her gown and the red chakra slowly moved to her stomach. It paused over her stomach as if waiting for her approval. "Ok Naruto-kun you can continue." The chakra caressed her stomach and the seal appeared. It then covered the seal and she felt very sleepy.

Both heads hit their pillows at the same time. They both woke up in a field "**Ok kits you can talk now, I have bridged your minds. I know I cannot talk to Hime right now but you both can at least talk to each other. I will withdraw. Naruto we will talk later**." The Kyubi said.

Naruto sat up and saw Hinata sitting a few feet away from him a large castle with a gate and with the kanji of seal on it. "Hinata, I could not answer your question. It was too hard to answer."

Hinata looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"How can I answer your question without looking bad? Here is how I see it. I have known only that I contain the Kyubi and that I have feelings for you. He has not had any sway in on how I feel towards you. I didn't know you contained his mate. If I did it would make no difference. I have liked you since we were kids." Tears start to stream from his eyes.

"I do not want to lose you, I can't lose you. It would kill me. I don't know what this feeling is but that is how I feel. I would never want to hurt you, thus the reason I could not answer your question. When I figured out you liked me more than just a friend, I was happy beyond compare. I could not have been happier. Someone like you liked me, the demon brat, and the pariah of Konoha. And I know that you would not hurt me if I screwed up, which I eventually will."

He looked into her lavender eyes. "You are beautiful, patient, kind, and I care for you more than life itself." Hinata looks up crying. "Yes Hinata-hime, it is you I am talking about."

"Ok Naruto-kun" She moved closer and embraced Naruto.

"Hinata-hime, I am telling the truth when I say I do not know what I feel. I know I am happy when I am around you and sad when you are not near. I know I push harder so that I can protect you. But I don't want you to think it is because you are weak, because you are not weak. I made an oath to Neji that I am going to beat him, and I did it on your blood."

Hinata pulled away looking into Naruto's eyes. "You did that? For me?"

"Yes I did and I would do it again. That teme Neji has put me back in the hospital. I don't mind being here with you though. But I can't train and he is free to train as much as he likes."

"Neji-niisan attacked you? When did he do that?" Hinata asked.

"I am not sure when but it was before dinner, I was going to go talk to you. But he used a woman telling me that you were up and wanted to talk to lure me out and attack me at the entrance of my room." Naruto answered.

"That is terrible. I will talk to my father about this and see what we can do about it." Hinata said angrily.

"**If I am to heal Naruto as quickly as possible you will need to end this soon**." The fox boomed over the young couple.

"Hime, the fox in me says that we will be able to talk in a month and a half. I am sure that he will be happy to see her. Now Naruto-kun I… I…" Hinata starts to blush. "I… lo…"

"**Enough! Out with it girl, we do not have time for this!**" The fox yells at Hinata.

"Shut up you damn fox. Can't you see Hinata is trying? She is so cute when she blushes." Naruto blushes as he says that not sure why it was said instead of thought.

Hinata grips Naruto very tightly and buries her head in his shoulder. "I love you Naruto-kun." Then promptly passes out. The scenery fades to black and Naruto is left in the room near the Kyubi's cage.

Naruto is in a daze 'she loves me. I am not worthy of her am I? Do I love her? Why do I feel like my insides are all twisted up? What do I do now?'

"**NARUTO!!**" The Kyubi yells breaking him from his stupor. "**Now that I have your attention. We have a few things to discuss**."

Naruto looked up at the cage. "Like what? I have just been told by my best friend in the world and prettiest too. That she loves me. I am not sure what to do now. What do you want to talk about anyways fox?"

"**First I have figured out why she is weaker than she should be.**" The fox said.

"Ok, you mean she is stronger than she is now?"

"**Yes and no. First Hime has had to pull some chakra from Hinata to heal herself. She was improperly sealed in a statue. She is a seven tailed divine fox for crying out loud. But she also was gravely wounded when I was summoned by a man name Madara Uchiha**."

"Uchiha, great why do they keep on coming up and ruining my life?" Naruto responded.

"Well he holds sway over demon foxes with his sharingan. Sasuke does not have that ability yet, but could gain it eventually. Also she was sealed by a man named Orochimaru. He is known as the snake Sanin."

"**But back to Hime. She is recovering. She was injured, then locked in an inanimate object then resealed in a container that had developing chakra coils. This would make her life very difficult. She would need to basically take strength from Hinata to recover but she would lend her powers to heal her. When Hime is fully recovered Hinata will heal almost as fast as you. Now I have not tried to steer you towards Hinata. Just blind luck has put us in this position where the girl you love. Yes I said love, is the container of my mate.**"

"**Now there are a few things I need to tell you. First when you and Hinata make the chakra link, you both will be able to send your thoughts to each other. I am not sure on what the distances are. Over longer distances you will be able to relay them through me to her and from her thru Hime. As you age you and I will merge, this will take years, you are almost thirteen now, I figure we will be one when you reach your nineteenth birthday. When that happens you will become a half demon a hanyo**."

"Why a half demon? Why would I want to become a half demon?" Naruto asks.

"**How do you think most of the blood limits started? Most were started when a spirit being whether demon or divine mated and had offspring. Well it is that or you die. I figure you will want to live. I will not totally merge I will become like a conscious for you. You will have all my power and most of my knowledge. But I will also be here to advise you on things. I will state now that I was a wild fox spirit a nogitsune, then I became a demon, later I became a demon lord. The same thing will happen to your hime and to your family, and I mean Yugito and Shinbo. They will eventually all become half demons. Hime was a myobu, a celestial fox. Now we can proceed but we will need to train your mind**."

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A/N: To those who think my first few chapters were not so good. You were and are right. This is my first story I have posted and have been working on a learning curve, I will go back to the earlier chapters and revise and enhance them. I thought I would leave you with this chapter having no real cliffhangers unless you think that the fox working on training Naruto is a cliffhanger. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Now I have a few other projects to get too. See you and enjoy.

Oh and next chapter is a filler devoted to some of the other people in the story, you will see some familiar faces that have been missing for a while. I should have that posted in a couple days at most.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – other's training

Shino was panting as his father looked on "Again." Shibi commented without emotion. "You must be one with your hive. I know you can do this. Gaara of the sand has similar ability to you in how he controls that horde of sand that he carries. You have the advantage you can talk to your family and they will talk back to help you find a weakness. Now try again. Remember you are trying to outsmart your opponent not just beat him to a pulp. That is for your teammate to do." This elicited a smirk from Shino.

"Which one? Both like close combat." Shino questioned.

Shibi continues the spar between his colony and his son's. "True. But which has become stronger in your estimation?"

"Are you asking in absolute strength or the most progress? Hyuga-san has made the most progress, she has become much stronger. I would attribute this to my other teammate. He seems to be able to bring out the best in her ability and others I have observed. I hope this continues. For pure and absolute power and strength it would be my jinchuuriki teammate Uzumaki-san." Shino replies.

"How so? How do you know about his status of a container?" Shibi says with a raised eyebrow.

"Well Uzumaki-san gave too many hints on what he was and I figured it out after the time my insects went wild when I was suffering chakra exhaustion if you remember that time." Shibi nodded. "Also he told me later on, in a display of trust for his team so that we would not be surprised if he used the Kyubi's chakra. He has done so on a few occasions and I have been impressed."

"Did you know that he is in control while he is using the Kyubi's chakra? He has been able to access that vast well of chakra at times where the team would never have been able to survive, and it is thanks to him we have had the success we have. I am sure if I am presented an opportunity to battle with him in the chunin exams I will not win."

"Have you heard that the whole Uzumaki clan has moved in with the Hyuga?" Shibi comments as he ducks a few stray insects.

"Your control of your insects is astounding at usual father. And yes I have known for a few days that Uzumaki-san and his 'kin' have moved in with the Hyuga. I also know that he has been training hard and spending time with Hinata-san, hoping she will get better after the fight with Neji Hyuga." Watching his son for a reaction, he saw one. Shino's control on his insects wavered for a second. Shibi smirked, "I see you also have some bad feelings towards the Hyuga. How would you fight him?"

"Fight him? I will not have too. Naruto will more than likely take Neji's life in the fight. But if not I would of course keep my distance and allow my colony to weaken him. More than likely have them stay under the ground until I could coax him into walking over them. I would surrender if this did not work. I would not risk the safety of the colony to get revenge." He recalled his colony to him. "What is next on the training agenda?"

"Will we do?" A familiar voice boomed across the yard. Zabuza and Haku were standing at the entrance to the Aburame compound. "Would you like to train? You know that punk Naruto is back in the hospital again. Also Haku and I figured we would spread the love and help our friends out. We already beat up that Sasuke punk." Zabuza laughed evilly as Haku just nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Good afternoon Aburame-kun and Aburame-sama." Haku bowed to both Shino and Shibi.

"Naruto is back in the hospital? Did he injure himself training again?" Shino asked.

"Hell no, that Neji punk ambushed him at the door to his room. But that resilient punk should be out in a few days and back in fighting form in a week or so. I am sure he will be even more pissed off at that Neji kid when the day comes for the exam. Heh, I am betting on Naruto with all my money. If this information leaks out he will give me even better odds." Zabuza laughed. "So you want to do some training? Haku and I are just itching to let off some steam. We promise we won't hurt you much."

All Shino could do was raise an eyebrow as a response. Shibi nodded to this turn of events.

Several miles away in a secluded glade there was a loud crash Shikamaru Nara looks very tired. He looked exhausted but saw a large round object coming his way. He flashed through several hand signs and then had an expression on his face of utter fear. 'Ah man, I don't have enough chakra.' He then dived for the most convenient bush to hide behind.

"Come on Shikamaru, you need to keep your head in the game. You need to build more stamina." Asuma commented.

Shikamaru stood up and was standing shakily. "That is easy for you to say. You are not the one who is almost out of chakra and trying to stop a rolling Choji." This comment elicited a smile from his friend and teammate Choji.

"Well we could go for some barbeque and help you get back your strength." Choji said with a laugh.

Asuma just shook his head. 'One just wants to eat the other is lazy. My last student is a loud mouth. Maybe I can get Kurenai to switch one loudmouth for another.'

Both Naruto and Ino sneezed at the same time. 'Someone must be thinking about me.' They both thought as they both rubbed their noses.

Elsewhere in the forest Tenten had a look of absolute anger on her face. "No I will not train with you. With the way you attacked Hinata, and the way you are treating Lee, I will do no such thing. I know you are angry at the main branch thing but you went too far. You could have killed her. You know that Naruto was not pleased with you, heck I am almost positive that Shino will also come after you if you get that far."

Neji looked solemnly at Tenten. "Naruto will no longer be a problem. He will not be able to attend the finals. As for that pathetic excuse for a bug user, I am not worried. I am only worried about Gaara and Sasuke, as both will be hard competition. That is why I am asking you to help me with a technique that is an ultimate defense. Will you help?"

"Why? You treat most everyone as below you. I seem to be the only exception. Why is that?" Tenten asks.

"You are a very competent kunoichi. You are an expert at long range attacks with weapons." Neji responds.

"Ok but you will fix your attitude or we are finished with this training." Tenten retorts angrily.

"I will do as you wish. Now stand at least seven meters back. You can then start an attack with your weapons." Neji changes his stance and activates his Byakugan.

Upon a cliff top Sasuke is nursing several cuts. "Come on Zabuza didn't hit you that hard." Kakashi jokingly comments.

"It's not Zabuza that hurt me more. Haku and those damn senbon, I was already tired, then she used her ice chamber to cut me to ribbons. I could avoid what Zabuza was hitting me with, but I can't beat Haku's Kekkei Genkai when I am that exhausted." Sasuke retorted.

"Yes, but you needed the stamina boost, especially if you want to have a chance against Gaara. What worries me is what they said about Naruto being attacked by Neji. The council may let this go and try to disqualify Naruto." Kakashi said with a worried look in his eye.

"So what if the dobe is disqualified. He shouldn't have even made it to the finals. He got off easy with Ino just giving up like she did. Anyways he was just showing off to his loser girlfriend." Sasuke rudely snorted.

Kakashi looked very angry. "Do you even know what real work is?" Sasuke looked at him with an arrogant glare. "Naruto would spend about twelve to fifteen hours a day training when he left the academy and joined his team. You complain after about five hours. Naruto does not have the gift of the sharingan to copy others ninjutsu. Did you know I have been his guardian since he was almost six? He was slated to be on this team with you and Sakura, I'm glad he was not." Sasuke started to roll his eyes. "Learn some respect or your training ends here."

Sasuke bows, "My deepest apologies Kakashi sensei."

"The council ordered me to train you. Now start again." Kakashi orders as Sasuke charges.

At the Aburame compound Zabuza and Haku both were now leaving as it was later in the evening. "Shino I am sure that Naruto would enjoy you visiting him at the Hyuga compound and trying to cheer him up." Haku said with a smile.

"I am not so sure I could 'cheer him up' as you so aptly put it. But it would be good to see him and see how he is doing and see if he will be able to make the exam finals. I would prefer that Neji not get a bye for his first match and have an easy time with either Gaara or Sasuke. I am sure that Kankurou will not be easy to defeat but I do thank you for your assistance in training. I will be more careful when dealing with those who have a Kekkei Genkai." Shino replied.

"We were glad to help you out. You know we are only able to do D rank missions here in the village while we are still on probation. I look forward to seeing you again over the next few weeks. Good luck with your training. We will not let the others know about how you are training. Good bye and thank you and your family for dinner." Haku says as she and Zabuza head home.

--

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 27 – A new direction…

A scream was heard outside the hospital room that Hinata and Naruto were sleeping in. "Get away you lecherous old man."

Naruto just shook his head. He then smiled and looked at Hinata who had a worried look on her face. The door suddenly opened to show a white haired man with a broad build wearing a green-gray shinobi outfit with a red vest. He also wore a headband with the symbol for 'oil' on it. "Hey gaki! Why were you not at training yesterday? We were going to work on 'Nature Manipulation'." Jiraiya said with a smile on his face. He then saw Hinata "Oh so you were holding out on me? You were spending time with a lady." Jiraiya got a cheesy grin on his face causing Hinata to blush. He suddenly tilted his head as the doctor came in and grabbed his ear and pulled him into a seat.

"Now I have a few questions for you sir. Why are you here? Why are you disturbing my patients? And what is this about training?" Kikiyo asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head as Jiraiya started his introduction. Jiraiya started a kabuki dance finishing with "I am Jiraiya the famous mountain toad sage!"

Kikiyo did not seem impressed. "I know you are one of the Sanin but Naruto will not be able to train for the rest of the week." She put up her hand to forestall any complaints. "Even with his guest he is seriously injured. It will take a couple more days for the wounds to heal then a couple more days for his body to recover. Now you need to answer to my other questions, now!" She said impatiently bringing a smile to Naruto's face and a chuckle to Hinata. Both then coughed up some blood.

"Well I am Naruto's sensei for the chunin exams. And since he did so well I am going to work with him on some new jutsu he might be able to handle. Now what did you say about him being seriously injured? And who injured him?" Jiraiya asked with a serious look on his face.

"He was ruthlessly ambushed just outside his room by his first opponent Neji Hyuga. Only Naruto's quick reactions saved him from having his heart burst by a juken attack." Kikiyo answered.

"Has Hiashi been notified?" Jiraiya asked as Kikiyo nodded. "And the Hokage?" Again Makoto nodded. "Naruto you get better and we will talk some more tomorrow. Love having these types of conversation with you. Bye!!" Jiraiya flippantly remarked as he left.

"Naruto would like to know if he can kill…" Hinata looked at Naruto questioningly, to which he nodded. "The pervy sage?"

"Why do you ask that when Naruto cannot talk and we have not given him writing…" Kikiyo stopped as she saw the red chakra coming from Naruto and touching Hinata on the stomach. "I see… So you can talk just not the normal way. That is quite inventive, just hope you don't get her pregnant." The chakra receded very quickly and both Naruto's and Hinata's faces went from light pink to stark white in seconds. They also wore the same 'WHAT!?' expressions on their faces.

Makoto started to laugh. "You Lady Hinata should know that there is no way for you to become pregnant from a stream of chakra."

She left while laughing, this was very troubling. Most Hyuga could and do laugh, but it was not the deep gut wrenching laugh the doctor was doing now. This left Hinata and Naruto both in a predicament. He could not talk and she was barely conscious. What are they going to do about the way they were caught? If it got out to her father he might either kill Naruto or force him to marry her now.

While Hinata was not opposed to it she wanted to spend more time with him before her dreams of marriage to Naruto became a reality. Naruto was more worried that Hiashi would kill him than forced marriage. While a marriage would not be bad, he actually liked Hinata a lot. He was not ready for it. But being killed came more to his mind.

At the Hokage's office Hiashi was already arguing with the Hokage when Jiraiya entered. "How can we let him continue in the finals when he did such a thing? We both know it is against the rules."

"I understand where you are coming from Hiashi but my hands are tied. The council will rule Naruto as unable to continue if we pull Neji. I cannot do that to Naruto. What I can do is place Neji under house arrest until Naruto is ready to continue his training. Also the council has ruled that Naruto cannot use the demon's chakra for his match. They want him strung up for what happened to Ino Yaminaka." Sarutobi replied.

"What happened to the Yaminaka girl?" Jiraiya asked causing both Sarutobi and Hiashi to turn to him.

Sarutobi let out a big sigh. "She used her family jutsu to enter Naruto's mind, but found the demon and Naruto instead and found out that she could not control Naruto. She nearly died from it if not for Naruto saving her from the demon."

"Well, considering what he has been through I am surprised that he did not just feed her to the demon. He is one tolerant boy. Speaking of which I have taken over his training and found that he was put in the hospital by Neji Hyuga, whom I believe also put your daughter there too. It will be at least a week before he is ready to train. That will leave me only two weeks to train him in an elemental jutsu. He has already worked out summoning."

Both Sarutobi and Hiashi looked shocked.

"Yeah it looks like the Yaminaka incident helped him gain access to that chakra base so he can use it freely. With him not being able to talk it will be hard to get information back from him. I talked to the doctor and she says that he will not have the use of his voice for a week also. The near destruction of his bronchial tubes near his lungs was near fatal. You both know that as the reports we got from both his sister and the woman from the branch family that Neji and a council member set this up?" Both nodded. "I am sure he safe in the hospital but not so sure he will be in the main household."

"Yes, I know the council member's name is Kodai and he is head of one of the branch families. He was nearly dictating to me, me the head of the main family that Neji would suffer no consequences. I came here to talk to the Hokage to see if there was anything I could do but it appears that the clan council was overruled by the civilian council. The best we can do is set in motion Naruto's training and that Neji will not get a promotion in this exam no matter what the outcome. As cheating on those from your own village is unacceptable, are we agreed?" Hiashi said as he looked to see the others nodding.

"I will work with Naruto on what a Hyuga can do so far as fighting and help him to figure out how to counter it. This I will do on his week of rehabilitation. After that he is yours I will also help him find out his elemental affinity for his work with you." Hiashi said with a smile.

"That would be acceptable while I gather information on his possible rivals in the exam over the next week. I will also try to help him work on his mind instead of his instincts that will help him pass the exam." Jiraiya responded.

"Okay then, I can see that you both have this well under control. I will leave it in both of your capable hands. I will do what I can with the council." Sarutobi commented as he let out a big sigh. "I am getting too old for this job. Should I just hand it over to Naruto now and be done with it?" This elicited a laugh from both the other occupants of the Hokage's office. "Yes I know he is not ready for it yet. Okay I have paper work to do. Have a good day gentlemen."

Naruto was resting lightly and occasionally glancing over at Hinata causing both of them to blush as they turned away from each other. This would also cause Naruto to smile and Hinata to giggle. They were both brought out of their little world when they heard Hiashi yelling "They did what?" Naruto started to try to bring the covers as high over his head as possible. While Hinata had a look of bewilderment on her face, not sure why Naruto was trying to hide even though there was nowhere for him to go while hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor.

Hiashi opened the door with a serious look and his face and was followed by Kikiyo. "Naruto Uzumaki, we need to talk." With this Naruto tried to dig even farther under the covers, bringing a grin to Hiashi's face. "Where are trying to go? Do you have a seal down there that you think you can hide in? But seriously we do need to talk." Naruto climbed slowly out from under the covers showing his worried eyes causing Hinata to giggle.

"Naruto I know you can talk through Hinata. Please do so now. I need to discuss your training." Naruto looked at him questioningly as did Hinata. "Yes I know and I am going to try to help you with your training. You will not have to exert yourself this will be more information and discussion than anything else. But first we need to do something." He pulled a few pieces of paper out of his kimono. Now I want you to both take a sheet of paper and channel some chakra into it." He commented as he handed Naruto and Hinata each a piece of paper. Both did as they were told. Naruto's split in half while Hinata's became very wet.

Hiashi looked at both of them. "Hinata you have a water affinity, she is more inclined for support roles. If I had known this earlier I would have stopped pushing you so hard. Naruto your affinity is wind, good for cutting and is great for close in fighters like you. Now that we have this information Jiraiya will be able to find a jutsu or two that you will be able to use. He says he also has a way to get you ready for your affinity training and then you will be learning a new jutsu."

A red chakra tail moved from Naruto to Hinata's stomach, Hinata soon started to giggle after that. "Father, Naruto-kun says thank you very much. He also does not want to kill him for communicating through me. Father wouldn't do that to you Naruto-kun He just offered you training why would he attack you? Oh, no, the doctor's joke was not very funny, I would agree with that. Father you would not hurt Naruto-kun for what he is doing now would you?" Hinata asked.

Hiashi looked sternly at Naruto took a deep breath and then let it out. "Naruto, to my knowledge you have done nothing that would break our arrangement have you?" Naruto shook his head. "Then there is no need to worry about me injuring you, especially since you have the chunin exam to complete and you also a match to win in a couple weeks. Let me explain a few things too you."

"First Neji is not as vindictive as he appears, I am sure of it. You must know that he was assigned to protect Hinata before the chunin exams but he has changed. He has been influenced by several members of the clan council who see you as a threat. As of now he will no longer be able to be near you or Hinata. He also is no longer allowed into the main household. Do you anything about the caged bird seal?" Naruto shook his head. "Okay I will explain a few things for you. The seal can either be used to cause pain or it can be used to kill. There is also another reason for it. It is used to seal the Byakugan when someone with it dies." A look of horror comes across Naruto's face. "Yes so that the Byakugan is not stolen."

Hiashi takes a deep breath.

"But why seal it? I understand trying to keep it out of the hands of others but why? Naruto-kun wants to know why." Hinata asked for Naruto.

Hiashi smiled. "Naruto the Byakugan is a Kekkei Genkai, can only be passed down by genetics. But like the sharingan the eyes can be taken and used by others. Look at Kakashi, he uses a sharingan but was not born with it." A look of understanding crossed Naruto's face. "Remember when you and Hinata were three years old?" Naruto nodded. "What happened?"

Naruto looked up and Hinata spoke. "We were both attacked by lightning nin, they hurt Naruto-kun, sealed Hime in me and tried to abduct me."

Hiashi nodded, he then had a questioning look on his face. "Hime?"

Hinata giggled "Yes father that is the name of the myobu that was sealed in me."

A look of shock came over Hiashi and Kikiyo's face. "A myobu? A servant of Inari? And a fox no less." He grinned at Naruto.

Hinata was turning red. "Please Naruto not so many question and not so fast. And I have no idea why father is grinning at you. Yes it is quite disturbing." She suddenly turns very red.

In Hinata's mind Naruto is asking questions. "Hey Hinata does that make you an angel? Because I think you are my angel. What? Why are you turning red again? Are you angry with me?"

Hinata takes a breath, "No Naruto-kun I am not angry with you. A little embarrassed, not mad. Thank you for calling me an angel. I appreciate it. Now please focus my father has some things he wants to tell you that might help with your contest with Neji niisan."

"Okay my angel. Let him know that he can continue." Naruto replies in her mind.

Back in the real world Hiashi and Kikiyo are looked at Naruto and Hinata as their eyes were glazed over. Hiashi turned to Kikiyo, "They must be having a good conversation." Kikiyo nodded.

Hinata finally looked at her father, "Father he is ready to listen, at least I hope so." Hinata gave Naruto a stern glare as he started to cower under his sheets. Naruto then turned to Hiashi and nodded.

--

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter we go into some of the training.


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

I am surprised that most people that commented did not say anything about the doctor and her sense of humor. Oh well enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 28 – Back to training…

Ebisu watching Naruto in wonder watching his massive number of clones working cutting leaves. "How were you been able to figure out how to use an elemental affinity?"

Naruto looked at his sensei and scratched the back of his head. "Well…" Naruto whispered into Ebisu's ear. "Kyubi told me what I should expect with elemental manipulation. Actually from what he said electricity will be the hardest for me to learn, especially for me. Also, will you please catch me…" All his clones disperse and Naruto's eyes started to roll into the back of his head as he then started to collapse from exhaustion.

Ebisu catches him, "I am sure you are one of the only people that could do training with shadow clones."

Naruto weakly smiles, "What do you mean sensei?"

Ebisu sets Naruto on the ground in sitting position. "Well as you know shadow clones all send their experiences to the creator, they also send their stress or exhaustion. And using so many and dismissing them can cause a large feedback on the user. Most have problem with only a couple clones at once. They lack the stamina and the chakra reserves to maintain them for extended periods. You yourself posses a level of chakra that is at or near mid jonin level, and near limitless with the Kyubi. I am sure that you do have your limit on how much you can use of that in one sitting. I also advise you to not push your training too much, as you got done with Gai only a couple hours ago. Shall we go for lunch?"

"Sure, we can head to the Hyuga compound for lunch if you like. I am sure that your wallet would like a break from treating me to lunch." Naruto slowly got up drenched in sweat.

"It would be an honor to eat at the Hyuga compound. By the way how is your teammate Hinata doing?" Ebisu asked.

Naruto blushed, "She is doing a lot better. She will be able to watch the chunin finals."

Naruto started to walk but stumbled but was caught by Ebisu. "Naruto we can take our time to get you home. I know you have incredible stamina but you should not push yourself so soon after being released from the hospital. I know you want to make up for having lost a week of training. But remember Neji was also not able to train for a week either. After you are able to split the leaf fully I will have some jutsu for you."

This caused Naruto smile. "Let me guess some small ones defensive first then some offensive?"

Ebisu nodded, "The defensive take very little wind chakra so you can familiarize yourself with how to do it in a jutsu. Then we can work on offensive jutsu. I am not sure what master Jiraiya is going to teach you after we are done but I am sure he will not have that much for you to do today, as you will be very tired by the end of today."

As they approached the compound the guards came running "Naruto-sama are you ok? You are not hurt again are you?"

Ebisu was surprised by the way the guards were treating Naruto. "No he is just exhausted by his training I am thinking he pushed himself a little too hard today. He invited me to lunch."

Both guards bow and opened the gates. "Of course Ebisu-sama, I am sure Hiashi-sama will enjoy the company."

They entered and came to the front entrance. Naruto and Ebisu bowed to Hiashi after they took off their sandals. "Greetings Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi returned a bow to both of them. "Good afternoon, Naruto-san, Ebisu-san. From the look of Naruto, I am guessing he is pushing himself a little too hard again. Are you here for lunch?"

Naruto looked down, "I am sorry Hiashi-sama that I did not ask permission for Ebisu to come to lunch with us but I still have much to do to get my elemental affinity to work, and I figured that it would be easier for him to come here so we can get back to work as soon after lunch as possible. Also I could ask questions of him on the jutsu we are going to be going over."

Hiashi smiled, "Naruto-san that is fine as you have had little time to be going places and I am interested in hearing how your training is going. Ebisu is welcome to enter under your invitation as you are a member of this household. Have you had a chance to talk to Hinata today?" Naruto shook his head. "She must have not been up when you visited." Naruto nodded to this statement. "So master Ebisu how is young Naruto-sans progress?"

Ebisu cleared his throat. "Well Hyuga-sama he has nearly cut a leaf in two on his first day of elemental training." Ebisu looked rather annoyed at Naruto. "He also nearly passed out from exhaustion, from a training method that his tenant came up with."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "What type of training would that be?"

Ebisu adjusted his glasses, "Heavy use of shadow clones. I would have to say that there is no one else who could do that type of training." Hiashi nodded. "He has incredible stamina and he also is incredibly stubborn. I would gather to say that if he would have known about this sooner he would be even better off than he is now. What he failed to figure in was that he not only gathers the information from his clones but also the fatigue they have too. He is creating nearly five hundred clones and was working hard with them all. I have also called in a specialist at the request of Naruto and the Hokage."

"What kind of specialist?" Hiashi asked as they started to sit down to eat.

"Someone that can help suppress the Bijuu chakra."

Hiashi looked worried. "Why would he need that?"

"Well Kyubi says that I might lose control of the chakra and if I get too much either too quickly or over time, it will hurt me. He figures I could handle one maybe two tails for about an hour at most. After that it would start to break down my body, starting with nerves, and then it will affect my organs." Naruto takes a bite of his lunch, and then swallows.

"You see I integrate the chakra naturally through the seal. It converts the demon chakra into a mixed chakra and adds it to my system. Basically I have three chakras, mine, mixed, and demon. I can easily tap into both mine and the mixed without any ill effects. But the demon chakra while it has benefits, like advanced healing, and senses. It also has bad effects feral looks, overpowering of cells causing degradation, aggression, and hindered learning." Hiashi looked at Naruto in shock. "The Kyubi was grilling me all night with this stuff, he made me learn and understand it. He apologized for hurting me in the mind. I was hindered from the start by all the beatings also. Apparently I have suffered from mild form of brain damage. He could heal most cells but brain cells deprived of blood are ones that he cannot repair until the blood returns. Apparently when a brain cell dies and is regenerated it will lose most its information, thus the cell will be empty or I will have jumbled information clogging up my mind."

Hiashi sighs, "I am sorry to hear that Naruto, I do see that you are progressing well. This information is as I had feared. Everyone that was calling you an idiot was right." Naruto looked very perturbed at this statement. "I mean no insult Naruto you were both helped and hindered by the Kyubi. The villagers and others did their damage to you. The beating and the assassinations all took a toll on how you would and could learn. Given these difficulties you are doing better than anyone could have hoped for and you are succeeding." Hiashi commented while smiling sympathetically at Naruto. "I suggest you take the rest of the afternoon off and rest, you only have a week left before the chunin exams. Go visit with Hinata, I am sure she would love the company."

Naruto looks at Ebisu, "I agree Naruto, the way you are able to learn jutsu is like you have the Sharingan, but, you learn it from experience and not a Kekkei Genkai. Which is the case with the Sharingan as it both a blessing and a curse. Because you learn the jutsu or maneuver but you will be able to see any weakness in using it, which only comes from using and working with a skill. Good job for today and I will see you right after your training with Gai-sensei tomorrow."

Naruto nods to Ebisu. He then finishes his lunch and excuses himself. They both notice him staggering as he leaves. "He pushes himself almost too hard. Is that because of you Hiashi-sama?"

"I maybe a taskmaster but Naruto surely puts me to shame in the way he works so hard. He pushes himself to become better and stronger on his own. He needs no encouragement from me. I am very happy it has rubbed off on my eldest daughter. She is strong and works hard. I do worry about my youngest though. She is being pushed and pushing herself, this is caused by the council. But this may be changing. I am glad that you stopped by Master Ebisu, and thank you for your work with Naruto, he is like a son to me." Hiashi admitted openly to Naruto's sensei. "Help make him strong. I need him to be strong."

Ebisu adjusted his glasses, "I see, and the purpose of making him strong?"

Hiashi smiles, "I care for him and there is another reason of which I can not divulge just yet."

Ebisu nods his head, "As you wish Hiashi-sama, I will honor your wishes. Have a good afternoon." He finishes his lunch, bows and then leaves.

Hiashi helps the branch member clean the table. 'Naruto you need to open Neji's eyes, he is so stuck on destiny that he is missing his.' Hiashi hangs his head, 'Brother I am so sorry, your son is so gifted but also has been blinded. I am hoping we can bring light back into his life.'

Naruto showered and changed. He went down to the infirmary. Hinata was finishing her lunch as Hanabi was talking to her. Naruto noticed Kodai as he looked at Hinata, he saw hate in his eyes. "Good afternoon Kodai-san. How are you this fine day?" Naruto asked rather loudly and with a huge grin on his face.

Kodai turned to Naruto. "Ah, the demon-brat, I am fine, thank you. Why are you here?" Kodai answered with much venom in his voice.

"Glad to hear that you are doing well. Oh me? I am here to see Hinata-hime. Oh and I see that Hanabi-chan is here too. Oh boy. Well have a good day, and see ya!" Naruto said as he passed Kodai. Naruto then said under his breath as Kodai left, "Good riddance teme."

Naruto stumbled into the room only to be caught by Hanabi. "Are you okay Naruto-san?" Hanabi asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Naruto-kun? What is wrong? You only got out of here yesterday." Hinata asked worried that he had reinjured himself.

Naruto sat in the chair near Hinata with the help of Hanabi. "Hinata-hime, Hanabi-chan, I am fine. I am just tired from my training today. Here let me show you what I learned today." Naruto pulled out a leaf from his kimono and placed it between his hands. They saw him show some exertion and then he opened his hands showing a leaf cut perfectly in half. "See, I can use my wind af…." Naruto said as he passed out.

Naruto's face felt warm and as a hand stroked his face. He opened his eyes to see Hinata looking down on him with tears in her eyes. She was brushing his face, he did not know why but this was the greatest sensation he had felt before. She smiled at seeing his eyes open and him smiling.

Hanabi was holding the cut leaf that Naruto had used his wind chakra to cut. She had her Byakugan active. "Naruto you cut this down to the cellular level and left your chakra in it. That is so cool, teach me! Please!" Hanabi begged in a whiny voice.

"No, Naruto-kun will not do anything else today. He is totally exhausted. If I know you, and I think I do you pushed until you nearly passed out didn't you Naruto-kun?" Hinata said with a smile on her face as she continued to brush his face with her hand.

Naruto had a glazed look on his face as Hinata continued to stroke his cheek. "I love you Hinata-hime." Naruto said with a huge smile on his face.

Hanabi looked at Naruto in shock as Hinata just giggled at Naruto. "Do you like that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto started to make a sound like purring. "Is he purring? What is he a cat?" Hanabi asked looking shocked at Naruto.

All three were shocked back into reality when a cough came from the doorway. "Am I interrupting anything?" Hiashi asked with a smile on his face.

Naruto tried to stand up but immediately got dizzy and fell back into the chair and nearly passed out.

"Father! Look what Naruto-san did!" Hanabi showed Hiashi the cut leaf.

Hiashi activated his Byakugan and looked at the leaf halves. "Impressive. Your wind chakra is impressive Naruto-san. Now that you can produce it you can work on learning jutsu that will help you."

Naruto eyes were again glazed over as he smiled. "Thanks dad. I will try to keep up the good work."

This caused Hiashi and Hanabi to laugh and Hinata to giggle. Hinata then went back to stroking Naruto's face.

--

A/N: Next chapter the final rounds begin…


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

Finally the big match starts. Enjoy…

Chapter 29 – Game day…

Naruto, Hinata, Hiashi, and Hanabi meet Kiba, Shino and Tenten on the way to the stadium. Hinata was holding Naruto's hand. This caused Kiba to give Naruto and Hinata a hard time. They both just blushed and said nothing, Tenten blushed also. Hiashi just smirked at the teens antics. Hanabi looked at them and just did not understand what was going on so she acted like what she thought a Hyuga should act like, quiet and stoic like Shino.

When they got to the stadium, Naruto was looking depressed. Shino entered while the others went into the stands. Hinata looked at Naruto and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. Naruto looked at her quizzically. She then gave him another kiss on the cheek, "For luck." This caused Naruto to grin from ear to ear.

She then looked him in the eyes, "Naruto-kun I know you can do this. I know you are not sure right now but you can do it. You are strong, and you help others become strong." She blushed, "You helped me become stronger. You are someone who will do great things Naruto-kun. Never forget your nindo 'You never give up.' And you will do fine." She kissed him on the cheek one last time. "I will watch you Naruto-kun. I know you are angry at Neji niisan, but please just open his eyes."

"Sure maybe I can knock some sense into him. Oh thanks for all the information you told me about Neji." Hinata nodded. "I did wonder why he was so angry at you. Maybe I can help him with his anger. Good bye Hinata-chan." Naruto said as he went into the contestant area.

A few hundred meters away Neji was standing by a tree watching the scene play out. "You understand what you must do?" A voice said from behind the tree, Neji nodded. "He must die, or all is lost. He will taint the clan and destroy all that has been worked for. But you must make him suffer also as he has smeared the reputation of the Hyuga clan. I am counting on you."

Neji nods, "I understand. Now I must enter the stadium. Enjoy the show." Neji then entered the stadium.

Neji moved next to Naruto as Shino took his place farther down the contestants. Noticeably missing was Sasuke and Dozu. Hayate was coughing as usual but then said he had an announcement, "There has been a change in the lineup. Please take a look at the new order for the matches." Only Temari and Shikamaru were surprised by the match lineup as Dozu was now missing. "Ok now that we have most of our competitors here we shall begin. May I have Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga please remain here? And the others please take your place in the observation box?" The others left the arena area. "Naruto, Neji are you both ready to begin?"

Neji looked at the proctor, "Proctor I am going to wipe the existence of Naruto Uzumaki from the face of this world. Do I make myself clear?"

Hayate looked shocked at this statement. "Neji, the rules are as follows. You will continue to battle until either your opponent is either incapacitated, dead or I call the match. You WILL stop when I call the match or you will be disqualified. Do 'I' make myself clear Neji?"

Neji smirked, "Perfectly." He turned to Naruto, "You know you have the worst luck, you have to face me. It was your destiny to lose. Once it was decided that you would face me your destiny was set. Now I will relieve your suffering and your miserable existence. Do you have anything to say?"

Naruto frowned, "Neji I know of your pain." Putting his fist up directly at Neji, "What you did to Hinata was unforgivable. I am going to beat you like a drum. Maybe you will learn something, maybe not."

Neji was incensed, "Pain? Pain? What do you know of pain? Pain and suffering. Let us end this now, for you know nothing about me." He moves into his stance.

Naruto just nods to Hayate, "You may begin!" Hayate yells as he backs up from the both of them.

Up in the stands Hinata and Kiba find a place away in the general stands.

"You know he is out classed by Neji?" Kotetsu said.

"Well what did you expect Naruto was the last in his class? He barley passed, now he is up against a genius, he has no chance of winning. I will bet you this will be over quick." Izumo replied.

Hinata looked at the two chunin "How dare you judge him!" Both looked shocked that the usually quiet Hinata Hyuga spoke up, and for Naruto of all people. "He is strong, stronger than you may think. Now shut up and watch the match."

Kiba just chuckled at this, knowing Hinata's feelings towards Naruto. 'You screwed up, and you should not judge a book by its cover, Naruto is possibly the strongest we have down there.'

Izumo finally no longer stunned replied, "We are sorry Lady Hyuga, and we did not see you there. We meant no insult towards Naruto. It is just we have heard of both of their matches. We know Neji was not kind to you and Naruto had an easy time with the Yaminaka girl. We will try not to disturb you further." Both bowed their heads in respect.

Naruto smiles, "Here is a tried and true way of showing of my abilities." He made a hand sign, "Shadow clone jutsu." There were now ten Narutos. "Are you ready Neji? Because we are!" The Narutos said in unison as four take up positions around Neji.

Back up in the stands Kotetsu smiles, "Shadow clone jutsu. That is a jonin level jutsu, who knew he could use that. This may be more interesting then we first thought."

Back in the arena Neji shifts his stance some. "You would use clones to distract me? How naïve."

One of the Narutos comments, "Use your Byakugan, these are not clones they are shadow clones. They pack a little bigger punch."

Neji activates his Byakugan and to his surprise all the Narutos have chakra coils and physical substance. 'This may be a problem.' "This is an interesting trick but I will figure which one you are and then kill you."

The Narutos all smiled, and the ones in front and behind Neji charged. Neji pulled out a few shuriken and threw them at the other six Narutos. He then ducks the Naruto that is behind him swinging at his head. He then does a foot sweep on the Naruto in front of him knocking him to the ground. He quickly hits both with an open palm. The one laying in front of Neji is hit in the side of the head and the one behind in the chest above the heart. Both disappear in clouds of smoke.

The other two Narutos charge with kunai in their hands. Both swing at Neji who places his hands on the weapon hand of each and deflected the blows as five of the six Narutos left disappeared. Neji the strikes the two Narutos he is engaged with in the hearts they disappear too. Neji smiles broadly, "Is that the best you can do? A few clones that are not even worth fighting."

Naruto pulls the shuriken out of his arm and smiles. "Oh I can do so much more. But this is fun. Shall we continue? Shadow clone jutsu." This time fifty Narutos appear. "Ready, charge." Most of the Narutos charge.

Neji slightly changes his stance. He waits for the Narutos to get closer he then starts to spin and release chakra "Eight Divinations, Heavenly Spin." All the Narutos that hit the hemisphere of chakra disappear in clouds of smoke. Neji finishes his spin. "Now I have you." Neji runs towards a Naruto in the back of the group.

"You thought you could hide from me? I could tell which one you are. Having your clones attack me. While you stood back from combat, you revealed yourself by not attacking me." He came up to one of the Narutos and hit him square in the chest. Naruto coughed up blood. "This is over." Several of the remaining Narutos disappear leaving only three or so left. "You now are going to die."

Up in the stands, Hinata is smiling as if she knows something, but Kotetsu says "That was entertaining but it is over."

Naruto coughed up blood with blood running out of his mouth, he then just smiles. Neji brings his hand back and smashes his palm into Naruto's skull, "You die." He hears a satisfying pop behind him. Then the Naruto in front of him pops and turns into a cloud of smoke.

Neji quickly adjusts his stance. "A ninja should see underneath the underneath. How could you believe that I would hold myself back and not attack you myself?" The two remaining Narutos are charging. Both Naruto connect to Neji's jaw but seem to have no effect.

Neji suddenly let out a lot of chakra and started to spin saying, "Eight Divinations, Heavenly Spin." The hemisphere of chakra throws Naruto away and disperses his last clone. Neji stops spinning and changes his stance, "You are within range of my attack." Neji comments as Naruto gets up. "Eight Divinations, Sixty-Four Palms." Neji quickly moves to Naruto and starts to hit his chakra points. "Two palms, four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty-two palms, sixty-four palms." Neji says as his last round of strikes hits Naruto sending him flying backwards.

Naruto feeling a little woozy starts to get up. "It is no use I have closed off all your chakra points." Neji arrogantly says with a smirk. "Now shall we talk about pain? You have no idea what it is like to have pain." Naruto coughed and then laughed as he his pulled himself up to one knee. "You do not know what it is like to carry a mark that you can never wipe away."

Naruto again coughed as he stood. "If this is a speech about how you have been wronged and you are more worthy of being in the main branch, then save it. I know about the curse seal you carry, and that all of the side branch members carry." Naruto's face contorted in rage. "As for pain, I know more than you will ever want to know about it. Like you tried almost a month ago. You are the latest in a long line of people who hunted me most of my life. When was the last time you have been attacked for no reason with the intent to kill?"

Neji looked shocked at Naruto, "Why would you know about the curse seal? And what do you know about my father?"

Naruto's breathing steadied, "I know your father died to protect his brother, for the incident which I tried to protect Hinata-chan. As for the Caged Bird Seal, I know that it is put on the branch members and use it to control them."

Naruto looked sadly at Neji, "I also know it can cause extreme pain all the way to death if activated." Naruto expression changed to anger, "Several of the council members use it as a way to control the branch members. I also know you got yours when Hinata-chan became three. The day Shikamaru and I were attacked and nearly killed. I also I nearly died protecting Hinata-chan later that very evening."

"I also know you got the seal because your father was born after Hiashi-sama."Naruto continued, "I also know you blame Hinata-chan for this, a thing she had no control over. She maybe heir but you are supposed to protect the main branch not kill them."

Naruto smirked, "You also called foul when I stopped you from killing her in the preliminaries. You said she was being protected because she was from the main branch, having special privileges." Naruto spit on the ground in front of Neji. "Give me a break, I was just protecting her, she is dear to me. You want to know about privileged?"

Naruto anger was started to come to the surface. "You got a pass for attempted assassination of me, trying to eliminate me from the exams. You suffer only a week of restriction. I got a week in the hospital with a week of light training. So because of your actions I got about two weeks of training while you got three. Now tell me you did not make out better on this deal? And what do you suffer from with this attack? Nothing! You made me suffer for your arrogance! Now you will pay!" Naruto took a stance to focus his chakra.

"That will never work. I closed all of your chakra points. You are right that I was given light discipline for my actions. You seem no worse for the wear though." Neji responds.

Naruto felt excruciating pain as his chakra points were forced open. Red chakra started to leak out of him. Chakra then started to spin around Naruto as nine lashing whiffs of red chakra trailed off from Naruto. "Are you almost ready for that beating I promised Neji?" Naruto said with a foxy grin.

Neji reactivated his Byakugan and then is astounded that all his chakra points were open again and red chakra flowed through his chakra system. "There is no way this can be happening. You cannot open a closed chakra point. It just isn't done." 'Have to prepare for an attack.' Neji returned to his stance.

Naruto stands as the swirling chakra slows and then encompasses him. He then pushes the quick release for his weights and removes them. "I am sorry Neji, but you need to see the light and stop heading down that dark road. I will do what I need too to accomplish this. I am truly sorry but now it is time for you lose. Understand I was ready to come in here and kill you. But because a pretty young woman asked me not too I am going to spare your life but you still need to be able to understand that I will stop you here and now. We shall begin with a lesson." Naruto vanished.

"Where did he go? Behind?" Neji turned but was kicked in the ribs sending him into the far wall. Neji hit the wall and made a crater the size of his body. He then fell to the ground. He picked himself up and looked around. "Where is he?" Suddenly in front of him was an angry Naruto surrounded by red chakra.

"Now that I have your attention, I will give you another lesson." The red chakra dissipated. Naruto grabbed Neji by the collar and threw him over his shoulder into the center of the arena. "Now let's have some fun." Naruto ran at Neji.

Neji saw Naruto coming his way and thought, 'I have to get a defense up.' Neji quickly started to spin. "Eight Divinations, Heavenly Spin." Again a hemisphere of chakra formed to protect Neji.

Naruto just finished some hand signs. "Wind style, wind barrier jutsu." A wall of wind formed around Naruto as he approached. It hit Neji's barrier and there was a blinding light as they collided. The explosion and wind released was terrifying. People in the stands closer to the actual arena were nearly blown from their seats.

As the winds blew the dust away it revealed that Naruto stood only about five meters from where he collided with Neji. Neji on the other hand picked himself up after hitting the side wall. "Still think it is my destiny to lose? You can make your own destiny." Naruto attention was averted as a kunai hit the ground near him with an explosive tag. He pushed more chakra into his wind barrier jutsu as the tag exploded.

--

A/N: What is going on? How can there be an explosive tag? Find out in the next chapter. Sorry about the cliff hanger…. But it works so well in the story…


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

Chapter 30 – Others interfere…

Naruto was spinning in the air as he attempted to keep his wind barrier up and defending him. He was really having problems and couldn't track where the explosive tags came from. Each time he landed another tag would hit near him. The barrier took a lot of chakra to maintain, but having such a huge reserve made it so he could keep it going and use it as a possible attack if he could just get close to Neji. But the explosive tags seemed to come out of nowhere and they would be placed so that Naruto could never advance towards Neji.

"Kuso, I know Neji isn't doing this as I know he has not fully recovered from that last Kaiten when it connected with my barrier." Naruto noticed something entering his barrier and spinning in it. 'Crap! More tags!' Naruto let his barrier down so that the new set of tags would be thrown out away from him. All four blew at the same time. Naruto was engulfed in four fireballs.

Neji was watched with amusement as Naruto was bracketed by explosions. He was not sure who was helping him but he appreciated the help. But he felt that 'it is wrong for others to interfere with my chunin trial' came over him. 'This is wrong, this is my fight. Also why do Naruto's words hurt so much?' He then saw Naruto let down his wind barrier and then four simultaneous explosions engulfed Naruto.

Up in the Kage observation area Sarutobi thought, 'You have improved so much Naruto, I am very impressed. But where are those tags coming from? I cannot sense any from Neji and he is not using any shadow clones but they do seem to be coming from the stands. I will have to observe more closely.' He looked at the Kazekage, "Lord Kazekage, I hope you are enjoying the tournament so far."

The Kazekage turned and replied in a happy sounding voice, "Very much so we seem to have several promising candidates this time around. But I am almost certain that those tags are not coming from the combatants. Would you say that this would constitute an unfair involvement from the audience?"

Sarutobi nodded, "I am not sure if they are coming from the stands or not, but I am watching. We shall see how they deal with it."

Naruto staggered, his right arm hung at his side bleeding profusely and apparently shredded by the explosions. He then looked at Neji and yelled, "So this is what you call fighting fair? Have you no shame? You are using someone in the audience to help you!"

His breath labored, Naruto made a familiar hand sign, "Shadow clone jutsu." Fifty injured Narutos now looked at Neji. "We are going to beat you to a bloody pulp and then we are going to beat your friend too. Right Kodai Hyuga?" Naruto looked directly at Kodai who held another kunai in his hand but quickly put it away. "I always knew there were some bad seeds in the Hyuga clan. Now I have proof of it. So you going to give up or do I have to finish this?" Kurenai and Ibiki grabbed Kodai and nodded to Naruto.

Neji saw the pools of blood forming around each of the Narutos. "You can barely stand you will not win now."

Hayate interjects, "Naruto you can declare that Neji was using illegal help if you want."

Narutos shook their heads, "No I am going to win on my own merit, not because of a technicality. I know taking the easy win would help me in getting the chunin rank but I haven't taught Neji his lesson on what a loser and a failure can be capable of." All the Narutos go through several hand signs. "Now Neji this is going to hurt you as much as it is going to hurt me." In ones and twos the Narutos called out "Wind scythe jutsu." This sent wave after wave of chakra charged wind at Neji.

He tried to defend himself with his 'Eight Divinations, Heavenly Spin', but it eventually wore him out and he succumbed to seven or so hits from Naruto's jutsu. Neji attempted to get up, but fell back to the ground. He then rolled over and looked at Hayate, "I give up. I can no longer continue."

Hayate was about ready to call it when Neji made his statement. "Winner Naruto Uzumaki. Medical teams needed on the field." A cheer rang out from the stands.

Hinata looked at the two sitting next to her, "Well what is your opinion of the loser now?"

Kotetsu looks at Hinata, "Well he is right if he would have taken the win it would have increased his chances. But also being able to adapt increases his chances. He might just have a chance."

"But being able to do those two jutsu one after another is impressive. We shall see what happens in the next few matches. He might have what it takes to become a chunin, but I am not sure. Winning at all costs is not a good sign of a leader." Izumo comments to Hinata.

Hinata and Kiba are surprised but seem to understand. "He still has time to grow and learn, and who knows he may just have a good showing next round." Kiba comments caused Hinata to smile.

Hinata got up, "If you will excuse me I have someone to congratulate." All three nodded as she headed down to the infirmary.

Hiashi also got up and headed down to the infirmary. "Hanabi I will return enjoy the matches." Hanabi smiled and nodded to her father.

Neji was taken away on a stretcher as Naruto walked off under his own power as he followed them.

Naruto and Neji were taken to different examining rooms. "You should be fine in a little bit. You took some good hits but the damage is minor, minor cuts and bruises. You are mostly suffering from chakra exhaustion."

"I would like a moment with my nephew if I may." Everyone looked at the door and saw Hiashi as he stood there. "It should not take long I assure you."

Neji nodded to the attending medics. "I will be fine."

The medics then left the room as Neji sat up on the gurney. Hiashi handed him a scroll. "What is this more main branch lies?"

Hiashi kneeled down on the floor. "I am hoping that you are now ready to hear the real truth. About what really happened on that day."

Neji looked at the scroll, 'Wait this is my father's handwriting.' He proceeded to read the scroll. It talked about how Hizashi was sorry that he had not been around after the attempted abduction of Hinata and that he had chosen his own path. The council wanted him to sacrifice his life for the main branch but he preferred to sacrifice his life for his brother and not for the main branch.

Hiashi hoped Neji understood that destiny is what you make of it. Neji let several tears fall. Looking at Hiashi who was kneeling, "You need not kneel in my presence."

"How could I not for the son of the man who sacrificed so much for me. It is the least I can do." Hiashi rose from the ground. "I would like to talk to you about the council if you are willing. I have some ideas that you might like."

In another room Naruto sat on a gurney in only his boxers, with bandages wrapped around his right side. "Ah, come on. I will be ok soon. Can't I have my clothes back?" Naruto whined. "I do have another match later you know."

A familiar doctor just chuckled at Naruto's antics. "You will get your clothes back soon enough."

The door opened and Hinata burst in. "Are you ok Naru…" She suddenly turned bright red seeing Naruto all bandaged up, but mostly because he is only in his boxers. She just stared at him not moving.

Naruto got a curious look on his face. "What's wrong Hinata-chan?" He suddenly realized his state of undress and pulled some sheets over his lower half. "Sorry Hinata-chan."

Hinata color slowly returned to normal. "Naruto-kun, here are some of your spare clothes." She blushed again. "I think you did great. I am sorry a council member decided to interfere."

Naruto shook his head. "No worries Hinata-chan. I was able to win. And I exposed another teme out to get me." Naruto looked a little sad, "I am just tired that this keeps on happening to me."

Hinata moved over and hugged Naruto. "I love you, and that is all that matters." She then opened her backpack. "Now let's get you changed so that you can go for the next match." She said as she joyfully pulled out one of his spare mission outfits.

"You know I love you Hinata, don't you?" Naruto smiled at Hinata as he put his pants on.

"And why is that Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked teasingly.

"You are always thinking ahead. I just wish I could do that better." Naruto said as his head drooped. He finished getting on his new green and grey with orange piping outfit. "And you are always thinking of me. Okay, I should be healed in a little bit." Naruto shook his head. "I should have taken the easy win." Naruto said with a laugh. "Then I wouldn't have to go into my next fight this injured and I would have more chakra for the next fight. Damn Kodai, why was he against me?"

The door opened with Neji and Hiashi entered. Neji looked very tired and he also wore several patched cuts and many bruises. He then kneeled before Hinata and Naruto. "I wish to ask for both of your forgiveness for my actions."

Hinata and Naruto only just stood there.

Up in the stands Yugito and Shinbo patiently waited for the next match, well Yugito was never known as patient. "Hey Shinbo, do you think oniisan is ok? And I think they got that jerk throwing in the explosive tags. Do you think Naruto oniisan will be a chunin? Huh? Huh?"

"Calm down Yugito, we both know that he heals quickly, and I am sure that Hinata-sama went to make sure he has appropriate attire for his next round. Also she will make sure he is okay for his next match. As for his performance, I do not know. So, relax and calm down. Please?" Shinbo responded and he sounded a little more than a bit annoyed.

Hayate announced the next match. "Will Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara come down?"

Genma appeared next to Hayate and whispered something to him.

Hayate cleared his throat. "Do to Sasuke Uchiha not being here yet we will move his match to the end of the round and advance to the next match. Kankurou and Shino Aburame please come down now."

'I am not ready to show them my technique.' Kankurou was started to sweat. "Proctor, I forfeit!"

Shino got very angry, but the only thing that anyone could tell that it was the case was a loud buzzing noise in the observation platform.

Temari didn't want to be there if the bug user blew up so she pulled out her fan and jumped out into the arena.

"Since Kankurou forfeits Shino Aburame is the winner." Hayate coughed and looked at Temari. "You seem eager."

Naruto entered the observation platform and immediately noticed Shino's agitation. Naruto walked over to Shikamaru and slapped him on the back, but didn't notice that he had sent Shikamaru over the railing. "So what has Shino so worked up, huh Shikamaru?" Naruto looked confused as Shikamaru was no longer there. "Hey Shikamaru where did you…" Naruto then heard a thud in the arena. "go?" Naruto smiled and looked down at Shikamaru apologetically. "Sorry didn't even know my own strength."

'Damn Naruto knocking me in the arena. Now I have to fight that infuriating woman. Women, why do I have to keep fighting women?' Shikamaru thought as he looked up at the sky. He then turned and looked at Temari who was walking towards him, Shikamaru smiled and pulled out two kunai.

"Are you looking up my skirt you pervert?" Temari slammed her fan down where Shikamaru's head. Tons of dust was thrown up taking a couple minutes to clear. 'Did I get him?'

When the dust cleared Shikamaru was up on the wall standing on two kunai he had stuck in the wall. "While it might be interesting to look up your skirt, I am not a pervert and it would be too troublesome to deal with you not being my girlfriend if I did. And that fan of yours would really hurt if it hit me. So unless you want to give up and go out with me I was not looking up your skirt."

Infuriated Temari swung her open fan at Shikamaru creating a huge dust storm in front of her. When the dust cleared only the kunai were left in the wall. She smiled and looked towards the trees past the broken ground that had broken the ground during Naruto's fight.

"Are you saying you don't like women?" Temari said as she scanned the trees for any sign of the lazy Konoha shinobi.

"I like them, but find them troublesome. They either want you do something and order you to do it or they want something and expect you to know what it is. You see troublesome." Shikamaru appeared between two trees. Shikamaru did a few hand signs but nothing appeared to happen.

"Are you afraid of a real woman?" Temari said as she approached with a swagger. She then noticed a shadow came out of the trees and shot towards her. 'I forgot he uses shadows! Got to get back to his limit or I am dead!'

Tumbling and jumping back she kept her eye on the shadow, until it stopped moving forward. She then marked the distance and smiled. "So that is the limit of your ability only fifteen meters?"

Shikamaru looked annoyed, but then changed his hands into what looked like another hand sign.

"I see." Asuma said realizing what was going on.

"What is it a hand sign?" Kurenai asked questioningly.

"You could call it more of a habit than anything else." Asuma looked up as he started his explanation. "Shikamaru is more like an old man. It is a habit he does when he has to think things through. You see whenever he would get in a bind he would do that hand sign and then come up with a solution. He always does it when we play shogi."

"I don't get it. Shogi is only a game." Kurenai said.

"Well actually he thinks like a general, and strategy games are used in the same manner as someone would use maps to plan a battle. Shikamaru is a genius." Asuma said with a smile.

"You wouldn't know it with his grades. If I remember correctly his scores were nearly as bad as my student Naruto's. We both know that Naruto was not taught so that explains his grades. What is Shikamaru's excuse?" Kurenai asked.

"Shikamaru explained it as 'putting pen to paper as a waist of energy and just too troublesome'." Asuma said as Kurenai chuckled.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and moved his hands and grabbed a kunai. He then moved behind a tree as Temari swung her fan and caused a wind style attack to come his way, cutting the trees bark.

Shikamaru jumped out between the trees when the winds died down. Temari smiled and raised her fan. She started to jump back when she saw the shadow pass the line she had drawn. 'He was using the time to stall so that his shadow would get longer. Damn I should have thought about that.' Temari continues to back up until the shadow stopped.

"Temari above you!" Kankurou yelled.

Temari looked up and saw something floating down creating a shadow. 'With this new shadow his range is nearly unlimited.' She continued to evade the shadow as it turned and chased her. She stopped when she thought it had reached its maximum. She planted her fan in the ground and bent down to hide herself behind the fan. 'Ok I use a clone and then distract him with it. I can then hit him with a wind attack and finish this fight.' She starts to go through hand signs and stops. 'What is going on how did he get me?'

"Guess you are wondering how I got you." Shikamaru stood up, Temari mimicked his actions. Shikamaru turned his head a showed Temari the furrowed area that had been dug by Kodai trying to get Naruto with explosive tags. Shikamaru walked towards Temari as she walked towards him. "This is it." Shikamaru raised his hand Temari mimicked it she winced as she tried to stop her hand from raising. "I give up." Shikamaru said nonchalantly.

"What? Why are you giving up you have this match won?" Temari asked as if insulted.

"Because I can't last much longer. I have about thirty seconds of chakra left. And here I had the next three hundred moved done in my head. Oh well. Good luck in the rest of the tournament." Shikamaru smiled kindly at Temari as he released his jutsu.

"Winner Temari!" Hayate yelled to a stunned crowd.

--

A/N: Sorry about the delay, my muse has ignored this story as it was going hot and bothered with my other story Uzumaki of the Whirlpool. Also sorry for the near cannon ending here I have ideas on the next chapter but have not even started it. I have to figure out what I am going to do to Sasuke… I mean how he is going to fight Gaara. I am also working on longer chapters so it maybe more than a week for an update on this story as I am working on four stories at once and that is spreading me a little thin with work and family. I hope you liked this chapter I will be starting the next chapter on Monday, should take a week or so to finish the chapter. I am catching up to my writing with my posting. I usually spend a couple times rereading a chapter to make sure I don't have many problems with it, but the requests for the ending of the Naruto vs. Neji fight was large.


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sorry it has taken so long but my other stories have taken longer than I thought and work has been annoying. I also am going back through the previous chapters beginning with chapter 1 and fixing the holes in the chapters.

Chapter 31 – Demon's revealed…

Naruto jumped down to the stadium floor. He put his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. "So why did you really quit? Was it too tiresome to continue?" Naruto said with a smirk.

Shikamaru smirked at his friend. Temari looked at the two and just shook her head as she smirked also.

"Will Gaara and Sasuke Uchiha come down to the arena?" Hayate yelled.

"Wonder if 'wonder boy' is going to show up?" Shikamaru asked.

"Up to him and that perverted uncle of mine." Naruto said with a snicker. "Well guess we head up to the holding area for more matches."

"Hey Naruto, you did a good job with Neji. I wasn't sure you would be able to win." Shikamaru said as they ascended the stairs with Temari close behind.

Naruto felt it first mild killer intent then it flared as Shikamaru and Temari looked at Naruto. "Your brother in a bad mood isn't he?" Naruto asked Temari who had a look of fear on her face.

They reached the platform at the top of the first staircase and watched as sand poured from Gaara's gourd. Two grass shinobi were threatened to kill Gaara if he didn't throw the next match. The first didn't even stand a chance and was crushed by Gaara's sand within seconds. The second shinobi ran but was captured and crushed. Gaara's sand started to come towards the three at the top of the stairs when Naruto's chakra flared. Naruto was surrounded by red chakra. "Stop now, I know what you contain so either back down or we can destroy this hallway."

The sand immediately retreated back to the gourd. Temari looked on in awe as Gaara had a look of almost fear on his face. Also the chakra the blond in front of her was pushing was stronger than Gaara's if only by a little bit. "Which do you have?" Naruto asked as the red chakra receded.

"Shikaku, and you?" Gaara asked as his featured returned to emotionless.

"Kyubi. Good luck, try not to kill him, they seem to think he is precious and might be angry enough to start something." Naruto said as he dragged Shikamaru past Gaara.

"Temari, what should I do?" Gaara looked at his sister.

"Continue with the mission." Temari said as she watched the blond and the pineapple ponytailed boy continue up the next flight of stairs as if nothing had happened.

Gaara walked down to the field and looked at Hayate. "Well?"

"I was told by the Kazekage and Hokage that we will give him ten minutes to arrive or he will forfeit." Hayate answered in an annoyed voice.

Five minutes later a swirl of leaves appears near the center of the stadium with Kakashi and Sasuke in it. "Are we late?" Kakashi asked.

"Well…" Hayate said with a grin. "If it was anyone else they would have been disqualified. So you are Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded as the crowd erupted in excitement. Naruto and Shikamaru rolled their eyes as Shino's bugs began to buzz loudly. "Yeah I know Shino. We should stomp his pompous ass now and get it over with." Naruto said with a smile which caused everyone on the waiting area to laugh except for Shino who only smiled.

Kakashi disappeared into the stands. Hayate looked at both combatants. "Are you ready?" Both nodded. "Begin!" Hayate yelled as he jumped back. Sasuke moved quickly around Gaara with several punches. This reminded Gaara of his fight with Lee and disturbed him a little.

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto. "So Kakashi, how is he using Bushy Brow's taijutsu? I noticed some of it in the prelims."

"Apparently he snuck off and watched you and Lee training with his Sharingan active. I took that knowledge and used it to help him survive this fight and gave him a gift." Kakashi said.

"You mean he stole Lee's taijutsu? The bastard! I thought he was a fellow Leaf Shinobi. I understand stealing from an enemy but from an ally. That is terrible." Naruto said angrily.

"The damage is done, there is nothing we can do about it now other than to have him apologize and make amends." Kakashi said and then disappeared.

Naruto angry looked at Shikamaru. "Why does he always get a pass on everything?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It has to do with him being the precious loyal Uchiha."

"Naruto, is it?" Temari asked as she inched closer to Naruto.

"Yeah, you're Temari, right?" Naruto turned to Temari.

Temari nodded. "What did you mean when you said Kyubi?" She asked hesitantly.

"Your brother has the demon Shikaku sealed in him right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes but how do you know that?" Temari asked.

"Well when he crushed the Grass ninja I felt the demon chakra coming from him, so I guessed he was like me and had a demon sealed in him. So I asked which one he had." Naruto said calmly.

"So he has the one tailed demon Shikaku sealed in him. And Naruto you have the nine-tailed Kyubi? Makes sense, trickster, too much energy not to be annoying. Oh how troublesome." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Do you have a problem with it Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Nope, I know that you are just a jailor. If not we would not be talking right now." Shikamaru said calmly.

Temari looked at Shino. "You don't have a problem with this?"

"Why should I? He is a dependable teammate and friend." Shino answered.

Cheers ran out in the stadium brought their attention back to the fight. Sasuke had just kicked Gaara in the face with a descending kick to the face. Gaara then started a jutsu that surrounded him with a sand barrier.

Up in the stands Lee sat next to Kiba. "The fires of youth are diminished. I am saddened that Uchiha-san would steal from me." Lee complained as tears streamed from his round eyes.

"Yes but his body will not be able to keep up with the strain as yours, Hinata-sama or Naruto-sama's are able too. You all have taken the time to train your bodies to take the strain of this type of fighting. I am sure that Sasuke used the Sharingan to copy the style and work on his speed but not his conditioning." Gai said with conviction.

"No, I could only do so much with him in a month. So I gave him an ace in the hole so to speak." Kakashi said.

"You didn't." Gai said as he looked at Kakashi.

"He is my student and so yes I did. He needed something to deal with that sand defense Gaara has." Kakashi replied.

Sasuke punched the round sand ball as hard as he could only to receive bloody knuckles for his effort. He ran up the side of the wall and ran through several hand signs. His hand started to glow as electricity started to form on his left palm. Finally a ball of electricity formed. "Chidori!" Sasuke yelled. He ran down the wall and then at the ball Gaara had encased himself in.

Up in the stands Ino and Sakura had hearts in their eyes. "He is just so cool." They said in unison.

"Ah man he's not so great." Choji said as he consumed a bag of chips.

"What do you mean Choji?" Ino asked as she radiated anger.

"Well, we have seen five examples of elemental manipulation. Naruto and Temari both used the wind element. Shikamaru used shadow. Gaara is using earth and Sasuke is using electricity. They are all skilled, of that there is no doubt. But just because Sasuke is an Uchiha and gifted, it does not mean he is the best out there."

"Shut up Choji!" Ino said as she hit Choji on the head.

Hiashi and Hinata returned to their seats, Neji had also returned with them. Kiba greeted Hinata, but was a little leery of Neji. "What are you doing here Neji?" Kiba asked hesitantly.

"I am here to guard Hinata-sama as best as I can." Neji hung his head. "I forgot who I was and was consumed by my hatred of the main branch." Neji said apologetically.

"Well I for one am glad to have you back." Tenten said as she wrapped Neji in a hug.

Down in the arena Sasuke approached Gaara's sphere quickly and his activated Sharingan noticed an eyeball floating above the sphere. Figuring where Gaara would be Sasuke brought his left hand back and pushed it into the sphere hoping to his something vital. Sasuke's hand pushed through the sand barrier and into it. He heard a scream of pain and something tighten on his arm. Sasuke feeling something crushing his arm so he pushed more electric chakra into his arm causing Gaara to loosen his grip and Sasuke could pull his arm out of the sphere.

To his and everyone's surprise a sand claw was still holding onto Sasuke's arm and crushed it, breaking his hand and wrist as Sasuke screamed in pain. Sasuke again pushed more electric chakra into his hand as the claw let him go and retreated to the sphere. A blood curdling scream came from the sphere. "My blood! I can see my blood! Ah!!"

In the waiting area Temari had a look of utter fear. 'He actually hurt Gaara? What type of monster is he?' Temari thought as she looked on in awe at Sasuke.

The sphere surrounding Gaara started to fall apart. Sand fell down past Gaara to the ground. Gaara appeared to be bleeding from his left arm. He held his arm as blood flowed past his hand. Terror and anger mixed in Gaara's eyes. Sasuke saw this and attempted to try to do hand signs but his hand crushed and broken so he could not shape them correctly so he could make the correct signs.

Naruto kept a wary eye on both the sand ninja. "He has never been hurt before?" Naruto asked.

"Not physically. He has always been protected by the sand. Only that Lee guys and the Uchiha have ever hurt him before." Temari replied.

"Temari." Kankurou hinted at her telling too much.

Suddenly there was an explosion and smoke covered the Kage observation box. All attention was drawn to it. Kankurou suddenly pulled his puppet out and started to attack Naruto. Naruto turned all his attention to Temari as he flared his chakra as both started to go through hand signs. Kankurou screamed as he felt bugs all over him. Suddenly the waiting room was filled with wind. Temari was thrown against the wall only to be tied up by Shikamaru. Kankurou was tied as the last of Shino's bug left him.

A black barrier appeared around the roof of the building that the Kages had jumped up to. Hayate and Baki both entered the arena in front of their respective genin. "Gaara do it now!" Baki yelled.

"I will kill you to prove my existence." Gaara said as he looked at Sasuke. The sand from his gourd started to surround Gaara and his form changed.

Naruto felt the chakra spike from Gaara. "Shino, Shikamaru can you guys handle them?" Naruto asked as he jumped down to the stadium floor.

Sasuke looked at Hayate. "What is going on? Why are you interfering in the match?" Sasuke asked as he held his bloody left hand.

"The match for you is over Sasuke. Relax and let the others handle the fighting. Get some medical attention for your arm and hand. You have proven you are capable of being a chunin. Now go." Hayate said with authority. "So Baki, what will it be?"

"You should worry less about me. And worry more about him." Baki said as he pointed to Gaara who now was a six foot tall tanku.

"Sasuke get that arm looked at. I will handle Gaara now." Naruto said as he approached Hayate and Sasuke.

"Naruto you cannot handle him." Hayate said to Naruto.

Naruto walked up to Hayate and whispered in his ear. "He has the one tailed demon sealed in him." Hayate's eyes bulged. "I can take him, I have the nine tails. Last time I counted nine beats one every time." Naruto whispered with a smirk.

Hayate looked at Naruto confused. "How do you know that?"

"Hey I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I will take this jerk down and protect the village!" Naruto yelled.

"I will kill you to prove that I exist!" Gaara yelled.

--

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. At least it isn't a really bad cliffhanger. It should only take a week or so to get another chapter up.

To answer the question about Naruto being disqualified for using Kyubi chakra, the village council will be hard pressed because of Kodai's actions. Also the Hyuuga will show unity behind Naruto. They will not want to piss of the most powerful clan in the village just to hurt Naruto. Also the fight between Naruto and Gaara will be out in the open for everyone to see.

Hinata did not need for Kabuto to heal her as she is mostly healed and only under a sort of ban on chakra usage, so she can use some but only in dire circumstances. She will of course use it to break Kabuto's genjutsu and use it to wake Kiba. Other than that she will rely on others for protection in the coming battle.


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: muhahaha I own only this storyline.

And for you guys who are worried I asked and got permission from S'TarKan for the use of the 'chakra wave' jutsu. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 32 – Gaara vs. Naruto…

Hinata noticed the genjutsu almost immediately. Feathers falling from the sky everywhere, Hinata put her hands together making a hand sign she said quietly, "Release." Hinata repeated the process again and touched Kiba waking him and Akamaru. Neji also broke the genjutsu as did the two complaining chunin. Suddenly the five were surrounded by sound shinobi that had come out of the crowd.

All of them ducked when they saw a green blur then heard it speak. "Leaf Hurricane!" Gai performed a aerial spin kick sending all the sound ninja flying. "Are all of you ok?" Gai asked.

"Yes, Gai-sensei we are fine, thanks to you." Hinata said.

"Okay, I need you to wake Lee and then head down and protect Sasuke." Gai said.

"Okay sensei, but I cannot use much more chakra as my injuries are not fully healed yet." Hinata explained.

"Is nap time over already?" Lee said tiredly as Neji woke both of his teammates up.

"That is fine, chunin you are with me. Genin go protect the last of the Uchiha. And do it with the power of youth!" Gai said as he and the chunin leapt back into the battle that was going on around them.

"Lady Hinata you can lead we will protect you and Sasuke." Neji said to the surprise of the others.

"Okay niisan. Let's head down and get the arrogant one and make sure he gets medical attention." Hinata said.

The five genin jumped down to the arena floor only to see Sasuke walking slowly away from Naruto, Hayate, a Sand jonin, and a large tanuki.

"Naruto-kun please be careful!" Hinata yelled.

Naruto smiled and waved as he turned back to the tanuki as Naruto's demon chakra flared. "Shall we do this Gaara?" Naruto said to Gaara who had a sinister smile on his face.

Hinata and the others reached Sasuke who was taking his sweet time getting to the medical area. "Sasuke Uchiha, we were ordered by Gai-sensei to escort you to receive medical attention. Will you do as ordered?" Hinata asked as they approached him.

"Not from any of you losers." Sasuke said arrogantly.

"Why do you not want to get help for your injuries Sasuke-kun?" Lee asked as he disappeared and reappeared as he kicked a Sound ninja away that appeared behind Sasuke. "You are a fellow Leaf shinobi and have been ordered to seek medical attention, we were sent to make sure you got it, now go or you will need more medical attention than you currently need."

Sasuke nodded as he understood the implied threat, he looked at the others and saw that they all nodded in agreement. Sasuke might be able to take out a couple of them but fighting all five was something he could not do. "All right you win. I can't use jutsu anyways so I am basically useless until my hand and arm are healed." Sasuke said as he bowed his head.

Back on the other side of the arena Naruto had summoned a large frog that had shields on its arms. The frog had blocked several sand attacks sent against Naruto by Gaara. Hayate was fighting against Baki but appeared to be losing. Genma appeared behind Baki who shunshined away. Both Hayate and Genma gave the demon containers plenty of room and made sure no one interfered with their battle.

Gaara had had enough of fighting against Naruto and getting nowhere. When Naruto appeared behind Gaara and said "Hidden Leaf secret finger jutsu, a thousand years of death." Naruto hit Gaara below the base of the tail with a kunai. Gaara realized it too late and hit Naruto with his tail only to see him poof into a cloud of smoke. The frog brought both of his guards up and made his silhouette as small as possible, and Naruto quickly jumped behind the frog.

Gaara smelled smoke then heard the crackling sound of a paper bomb getting ready to go off. "What did he do?" Gaara asked as the bomb went off. When the dust settled Gaara's tanuki form had most of the right side blown away as Gaara staggered forward. "What did you do to me?" Gaara angrily asked.

"Give up now Gaara, I know how hard it is to be a container, the looks the taunts. Worst of all the way they try to keep you away. Stop now and I can tell you that it will be better. You can have a better life." Naruto pleaded.

Gaara angered. "You will not wipe away my existence!" Gaara yelled as a column of sand rose and transformed into a huge tanuki as large as a boss summons if not larger, it nearly filled the stadium.

Naruto not sure what to do threw several wind scythe jutsu at the large demon. 'I would have enough space to summon Gamabunta but we would have not much maneuvering room. What do I do? I guess I can go ahead and do that if nothing I can beat him while Gamabunta holds him.' "Summoning jutsu!" Naruto yelled after he wiped some blood off his face, makes several hand signs, and then slams his hand on the ground.

A huge puff of smoke revealed Gamabunta to those that were awake. This stopped the fighting for a minute. Everyone was surprised that Naruto was able to summon the boss of toads. This gave a boost the Konoha forces fighting in the stadium as they recognized Gamabunta and returned to fighting quicker than the others. Many Sand and Sound shinobi died while distracted by Gamabunta's summoning.

"What do you want gaki? Why have you summoned me?" Gamabunta demanded. He looked around and saw the fighting and Shukaku. "You summoned me to fight the demon Shukaku? Are you insane? I am no match for him."

Naruto smirked. "You only need to distract him. I am going for his container."

Gamabunta smirked. "I see where you are going with this. Let's hope he does not try to go to sleep."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused.

"Well if the container or medium goes to sleep, Shukaku will take control and he will be even harder to fight than he is now. How much control do you have with yours?"

"One tail for extended, but I could go two tail for a little bit. I will of course be injured if I do that though." Naruto admitted.

"You will not stop my existence. Mother will save me!" Gaara said as he started to go through hand signs. "Feigning Sleeping Technique." Gaara said before his head drooped.

"This is bad, he went to sleep and we will have to deal with Shukaku directly." Gamabunta said nervously.

Shukaku's eyes became clearer, from a dull tan to a bright yellow. "I am free at last!"

"Oh crap! Guess I have to do this the hard way." Naruto said as he made the ram seal and concentrated his chakra. He released the built up chakra all at once. "Chakra pulse!" A wave of chakra flowed from Naruto hitting Gaara like a brick wall waking him immediately. Everyone that was asleep in the stadium woke up. They saw Shukaku and also saw Naruto standing on top of Gamabunta.

"No!! I just came out! It isn't fair!" Shukaku yelled. His eyes changed back to dull tan.

Naruto jumped to the head of Shukaku and landed on his nose. "I am going to stop you now and I am not going to let you hurt this village! It's my home and I will protect them with my life!" Naruto yelled at Gaara.

"I will continue to exist. You will not stop that Naruto Uzumaki!" Gaara yelled at Naruto as sand started to surround Naruto. "I will not die! I will continue to exist! You will not stop me!"

Naruto reached deep inside himself. 'Fox I need chakra or game over!' Naruto was surrounded by red chakra and his features changed. His hair became wilder. His eyes turned red and had slits for pupils. His nails became claws. The chakra blew the sand away. "I will protect them!" Naruto growled loudly.

Gaara swept his hand towards Naruto "Sand shuriken". Globs of sand hit Naruto and stopped his progress towards Gaara. Naruto's chakra shroud spouts fox ears and a tail. Naruto's canine teeth now grew out of his mouth. Gaara continued to hit Naruto with sand shuriken. Naruto moved and nearly took Shukaku's nose off as Naruto ran towards the ear. Gaara was barely able to keep up with Naruto's movements. Gaara decided that he would put up a wall of sand between himself and Naruto. The wall of sand came up two meters away from Gaara. Gaara then hardened the wall.

Naruto saw the wall go up and charged the wall as normal shuriken bounced off of him. Naruto stopped and saw a couple of Sand shinobi throwing shuriken at him. Naruto just roared at them, this caused the shuriken they just threw returned to their owners killing them. Naruto then walked to the wall and swiped it with his right arm. He tore a large gash in the wall. He looked directly at Gaara who was starting to be covered by sand and took on the appearance of a tanuki again. "I will stop you Gaara. You will not hurt anyone else."

"What makes you so strong? The Kyuubi?" Gaara asked.

Naruto shook his head. "He helps but real strength comes from protecting those you care about. I can see you were hurt and are hurting because of your burden. But it doesn't have to be that way." Naruto replied his eyes showed sorrow. Naruto was breathing heavily.

"I will not cease to exist. You will not snuff me out!" Gaara screamed in terror.

"Please don't kill him!" Temari yelled pleadingly.

Naruto walked up to Gaara and brought back his fist. A wave of sand hit Naruto and he was covered. "No! Stay away!" Gaara yelled. A fist covered in red chakra pushed thought the sand hitting Gaara in the face. Gaara's sand flew everywhere. Shukaku's body cracked and started to fall to pieces. Gaara and Naruto both fell.

"I am no longer needed." Gamabunta disappeared in a puff of smoke. This caused the falling Naruto and Gaara to hit the trees in the stadium rather than be buried in the sand from the crumbling Shukaku.

Naruto looked at Gaara who panted as hard as he did. "So you want to call it a draw and not get killed or do you want to go for round two, and have me kill you?" Naruto said his eyes now blue but still had slits for pupils.

Gaara's face was written in fear and confusion. "You won't kill me? Even though I have threatened those of your village?"

"I will not kill you now if you will stand down now and go with Hayate-sama and Genma-sama. They will treat you right, you have my word. Right Genma-sama and Hayate-sama?" Naruto asked looking directly at them. They both nodded as they jumped up to where Gaara was kneeling.

They both caught Gaara as he started to fall forward. "You have our word Naruto." Genma replied as they jumped off with Gaara in tow.

Naruto looked up to the Hokage's box and saw the dark barrier. 'So you think we can break it?' Naruto asked the Kyuubi.

'**It is up to you kit. It more than likely will take the power of two tails for you to breech the barrier. You really want to help that old man don't you**?' The Kyuubi replied.

'You know it! He has been there for me so I want to repay him if I can.' Naruto jumped up to the roof near the barrier only to see three ANBU and the burned body of another ANBU. "Guys I am going to try to break the barrier you go in when I do it okay?"

The ANBU just nodded as Naruto took a wide stance and red chakra started to flow out of him. He sprouted a single tail and his features again turned wild. The second tail came out and Naruto fell to his knees. He grimaced and stood again. He walked to the barrier and drew his hand back.

"There is no way in hell you can break this barrier! You little fucker!" Tayuya yelled.

Naruto smiled as a third tail formed, but this caused him to grimace. Naruto then hit the barrier and caused a large hole to be formed. The ANBU jumped through the opening. Naruto fell backwards as the red chakra dissipated. Naruto smiled as his world was going black. He then saw the face of his sensei Kurenai and heard her speak as he passed out.

"Naruto hold on, you did well, now you can rest." Kurenai said softly as she picked Naruto up and jumped down to the stadium floor. She rushed Naruto to the medical facilities in the stadium.

Inside the barrier all the combatants had stopped as they saw Naruto break the darkness genjutsu that the Second Hokage had created. They watched in morbid fascination as Naruto and Gaara fought. Sarutobi and Orochimaru both looked on with wide eyes as they saw Naruto use the three tailed form to break a hole in the barrier. When the ANBU entered Orochimaru was worried, as he had set it up as battle between himself and the Sarutobi. This changed things, Orochimaru looked at the odds and was not happy.

"So old man I thought you would be able to take me by yourself." Orochimaru taunted.

"Enma to me! We will end this now my pupil. You have used those that should stay dead and brought them back to life. Your end is near." Sarutobi told Orochimaru.

"Ha, ha! You are funny old man. You don't know what I am capable of. Those ANBU are not even up to doing a Kage level battle." Orochimaru boasted.

The First slumped as a hole appeared in his chest and a hand filled with an electric ball was sticking out of it. "I might be able to help." Kakashi stated as he pulled his arm out of the First and jumped away. The First Hokage fell to the ground then was enveloped in an explosion. There was nothing left of the First. "Hokage-sama you and Enma-sama get Orochimaru, we will take care of the Second and then help you with Orochimaru." Kakashi said.

In the medical area of the stadium Kurenai is running down the hallway towards the room Naruto was in before. She suddenly stopped as a Sound ninja blocked her way. The Sound ninja's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward. "He will no longer bother us." Neji said with a smirk. "This way, bring Naruto-sama we have a couple doctors and medics waiting for the injured and wounded. Gaara and others are already here."

Kurenai followed Neji into a room that had several injured people and several medical personnel working on those that were injured. Kurenai recognized the doctor and took Naruto over to him. Naruto's right arm was burnt and he was sweating profusely. Hinata ran over to Naruto screaming "No!"

"Doctor Naruto got this injury trying to save the Third I am sure he does not have much chakra left. Can you help him?" Kurenai asked the doctor.

"How many did he use?" The doctor asked.

"Three." Kurenai replied. Both Hinata and the doctor were shocked. Kurenai put Naruto on an available gurney.

--

A/N: Thanks to 'desuta' for pointing out my mistake. Good catch. This was a harder chapter to write than I thought as I needed to change it enough from cannon to make it interesting and still enjoy writing it. I hoped you liked it. I am sorry for the double cliffhanger but YOU will have to guess what is going to happen. This chapter is over 2500 words so not a bad bit of work.

Oh desuta which other story are you talking about? I have two others posted right now Uzumaki of the Whirlpool and Avatar and the Demon. And yes some characters do cross over between the stories in name only.


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

The ending of the battle, will everyone survive who will die? Read and find out.

Chapter 33 – The battle concludes…

Kurenai laid Naruto on a gurney. The doctor did several hand signs and his hand was covered in green chakra. He moved his hand over Naruto from head to toe, he then focused on Naruto's right arm. "Shattered right hand and forearm, heavy burning across all the right hand and arm. What the hell did he hit?"

"He put a hole in a barrier that was keeping the Hokage trapped with Orochimaru. He allowed help to get into the barrier so that the Hokage might be able to win." Kurenai looked concerned and down at her student. "Will his client be able to repair the damage?"

"I don't see why not but he will not be able to do much with that arm for a while." The doctor replied.

Hinata bent over and kissed Naruto on the forehead. "Please be okay."

--

Outside of the stadium Hiashi had taken Hanabi towards the Hyuuga compound. A branch chunin stopped Hiashi. "We need support at the hospital. They seem bent on taking it down and they seem to be searching for someone."

"Very well let's go and find out what they are searching for." Hiashi put Hanabi on his back and ran towards the hospital.

--

Inside the barrier Orochimaru did not look pleased. "I shall have all the jutsu in the world. There is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Your ambitions know no end. They have to be stopped. I will stop you." Sarutobi replied as he panted heavily.

There was a scream from one of the ANBU as he was skewered and then shredded by a blast of water. Both Sarutobi and Orochimaru turned to see the spectacle. "Delightful and beautiful, watching death that is." Orochimaru commented.

"Then why don't you join them my student?" Sarutobi replied as Enma transformed into a bo staff.

Sarutobi and Orochimaru traded blows between staff and sword.

"Why would I want to join the dead when I can use them? They are so obedient." Orochimaru said as he blocked a downward swing by Sarutobi. "Just surrender old man. The Leaf village will fall."

"You never seemed to understand my teachings Orochimaru. You always had to experiment and then you would have to try it on innocents. That is the reason I passed you over for Hokage. You were to protect those of the village not use them." Sarutobi said sternly.

"Your lectures while interesting never amounted to much Sensei. So that is why I am going to kill you and destroy the Leaf." Orochimaru commented.

"You never understood what it meant to be Hokage. You still don't understand the will of fire." Sarutobi said with a sad smile.

"Who cares, power and jutsu are all that matter. I will live forever and learn all the jutsu in the world. I will rule the world." Orochimaru loudly declared.

"You learned nothing! Even if you kill me others will take my place and those that are working together to defend this village will rise to the occasion. Because they are protecting those that they feel are precious to them and thus will work even harder to defend them. That is why you will fail. You are a bad student Orochimaru, the one most important lesson I could teach you, you would not learn. Until you find something you are willing to put your life on the line for you will not attain true power. The power to defend is stronger than the power to destroy." Sarutobi said as he blocked a swing of Orochimaru's sword.

"Stop babbling old man and die!" Orochimaru yelled angrily.

The second Hokage was fighting three ANBU at the same time and was injuring all of them. He dodged a thrown shuriken but then stopped fighting as he saw a hand and a blade of electricity coming out of his left chest. "You are gifted young one but it will take more than that to destroy me. I am sorry. Water style: Circling water barrier." Water appeared out of thin air and started to circle around the second Hokage.

"We don't have the reserves to fight him on even ground. He is a water user so let's take advantage of that." Kakashi said with a smirk.

"The younger generation must surpass the older. It is how life must work." The Second Hokage strained to say.

"You will fight for me or do you wish to return to being dead?" Orochimaru angrily retorted.

"Actually I would have preferred to have remained dead thank you, but this jutsu forces me to be your slave. You will learn child that to rest in peace is something not to be feared." The Second replied as he went through several hand signs. "Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu." A dragon of water appeared and headed towards Kakashi and the ANBU members.

Kakashi then went through his own set of hand signs. "Earth style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!" A stone dragon appeared from behind Kakashi in the rock and moved forward, it slammed into the water dragon. The Earth dragon continued through the water dragon slowly. The dragon eventually got to the water barrier and snapped its mouth closed on the Second Hokage destroying the barrier. The Second Hokage laid in the rubble of the dragon his body broken. "Good child finish it." The Second Hokage requested as his arms slowly repaired themselves.

"Earth style: Inter decapitation!" Kakashi said as the Hokage was how stuck up to his head in the rock and mud. "I am sorry Lord Hokage. Fire style: Grand fireball jutsu." Kakashi said sadly as the fireball slammed into the Second and burned his body beyond all repair."Rest in peace Lord Hokage, now it time for us to catch a Snake. Reform and give the Hokage cover!" Kakashi ordered.

--

Naruto awoke in excruciating pain, his right hand was on fire and his head felt like he had taken a head dive off the Hokage monument. As his vision came into focus he noticed he was in a familiar sewer like setting. "**So you have decided to join me. Again you surprise me with your cunning and courage kit. But I am angry, you nearly killed us both. Had you not gone three tails we would have died and our mates would have never forgiven us, especially. What do you have to say for yourself?**" The fox demanded.

Naruto looked at his hand, burnt and mangled. "Guess I did go a little overboard. Sorry."

The fox laughed. "**When have even not gone overboard?**" The fox questioned.

"I wonder if jiji is okay. And was that was Kurenai-sensei I saw just before I passed out?" Naruto asked as his whole body continued to hurt.

"**Yes your female teacher took you away from battle. Where too I cannot tell, but I do sense your mate close by.**" Kyuubi said teasingly.

"Really? Wait… why do you keep on calling her my mate? I do love Hinata but I don't think she will be able to marry an outcast like me." Naruto said and sounded depressed.

The Kyuubi laughed. "**I don't see how they can stop it from happening. You both are jinchuuriki. Also any other male tries to mate with her I am sure we would neuter them, if she did not. Also Hime would not accept anyone other than you as her mate. Of this I am sure. And going by your conversation a few days ago you both love each other.**"

"Okay fox, what is in it for you if Hinata-hime and I do get married?" Naruto asked pointedly.

"**For one I can get help in getting rid of the blasted sewer! Second I will be able to talk and see my mate. As you grow older you and your mate will be able to change our cages to better suit you both. We are both very old and powerful. The only reason that we were captured is because of the blasted Uchiha. I hate them. Too bad there is only a few left. If I were truly evil I would require you to eliminate them. Oh, that Sasuke one will betray your village eventually, all Uchiha do. They are loyal to the clan first village second. I must say that I do like that Itachi fellow though.**" The Kyuubi chucked as he spoke. "**Remember against an Uchiha I cannot help you. At least if they possess the advanced doujutsu. If they do you will have to learn to fight without me. You must become strong child as I will not have a weak vessel. Now rest as I attempt to repair the damage you have done.**"

Naruto then lay down and closed his eyes as he attempted to ignore the pain.

--

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as she saw and felt the thin layer of Kyuubi chakra surround Naruto. Kurenai looked at Hinata and smiled. The doctor looked up and shooed everyone other than Hinata and Kurenai away from the bed. He pulled the drapes around the bed and watched the Kyuubi heal Naruto's injuries starting with his arm. He knew he would be out of action for a little while. Color slowly returned to Naruto's arm, no longer black and burnt it turned pink but did not change from there. Naruto continued to grimace in pain. "His arm was shattered, his host will be able to mend it but it will take time. He will only be able to heal it so quickly. You do understand that too much of that type of chakra will do more damage to him, so it will take time for him to heal. I also would not touch him if while that chakra it surrounding him young lady." The doctor commented at Hinata touched Naruto and her hand slid into the chakra without even the slightest sign of pain.

"It is alright doctor I am immune to the effects of that chakra." Hinata said with a smile as she closed her eyes.

Kurenai nodded. "She is correct as they do have a special connection."

Hinata laid her head on Naruto's stomach and smiled.

--

Sarutobi breathing was labored. "Enough of this game Orochimaru, we must end this."

"You are right old man. I have not destroyed this village but I will return." Orochimaru responded as his tongue flew out of his mouth towards his sword.

Sarutobi moved in front of Orochimaru and cycled though a lot of hand signs. "I do not recognize that jutsu."

"Of course not my student as I am going to take away your jutsu. Forbidden art: decomposition!" Sarutobi finished the last hand sign and grabbed Orochimaru's arms.

Orochimaru screamed as his hands turned purple and the color walked up his arm. Orochimaru screamed and swung violently as Sarutobi released his grip on Orochimaru. Orochimaru swallowed his sword and ran away from Sarutobi towards the back of the barrier. "We must withdraw. What did you do to me old man?"

Sarutobi was sitting with Kakashi standing beside him. "My misguided pupil, that jutsu will destroy all the cells in your body if you do not remove your arms soon your whole body will rot. Now you understand why it is a forbidden jutsu, I am the only one who knows it. Now either withdraw or die." Sarutobi said with a weak smile. "It will also drain almost all of your chakra, so I would advise you never use is Kakashi." Sarutobi whispered to Kakashi who just nodded.

The barrier collapsed and Orochimaru's henchmen grabbed him and retreated from Konoha.

--

Haku put a mirror of ice front of herself, which caused the kunai and shuriken to bounce off and away from her. Haku's reply was a volley of senbon which caused several of the enemy shinobi to collapse in pain.

"You are still to soft Haku." Zabuza said as he cleaved five sound ninja in half. "You need to go for the kill more often."

"Why when we can save them for Ibiki later?" Haku said with an evil smile.

Zabuza looked surprised then smiled. "I didn't give you enough credit my daughter." Zabuza laughed as he hit a sand shinobi over the head, only to hear a crunch. "Guess I will have to work on that."

"You should keep to the killing father, and leave those that we want to question to me." Haku replied as she threw more senbon and disabled three more enemy shinobi. "It looks like they are starting to retreat. Shall we gather the captives and work our way back to the stadium?" She looked down at the moaning enemies. "Get up or my father will cleave you in two." Haku ordered.

All twenty enemy shinobi slowly stood and put their hands on their heads. Haku took each of their pouches as they passed her and walked towards the stadium.

--

Hiashi saw a couple shinobi holding a couple of women and attempting to jump out of the window. 'No, that couldn't be.' He ran and tapped the two carrying the women and grabbed the women off their shoulders. As the men died falling out the window Hiashi ran back to the chunin and out the main entrance. "Bring Hanabi and we need to get these two the Hyuuga medical wing now." Hiashi said as one of the men grabbed Hanabi. They all ran towards the Hyuuga compound.

--

A/N: I know I could not kill Sarutobi but he is done being Hokage. The other reason the jutsu he used is forbidden is that it will age you ten years for each use. So Sarutobi is now more like being seventy not sixty.

I also thought you guys would be wondering where and how Haku and Zabuza were doing. Zabuza was happy to increase his kills and Haku is working on getting a job with Ibiki. Muhahahahahaha…


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto the character or anything of the like.

Sorry it took so long to put out this chapter have been a little busy and not really been able to write. So now enjoy the chapter. I will have some but not all the answers at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 34 – Aftermath…

Hiashi wore a sad smile upon his face. The invasion had failed and Konoha had prevailed. Sarutobi and many of the shinobi of the leaf were now in the overflowing hospitals and clan medical wards. The Hyuuga had also taken in many of the injured. There were few civilian casualties, this was a good thing. Buildings could be rebuild, people could be healed, but the dead could not be brought back.

Naruto was recovering in the next room with a shattered right hand and arm. Hinata had not left his side, Hiashi had smiled at this. What actually bothered him were these two women in this room. One was thought dead many years ago and the other thought dead only a few years ago. He had to talk to Sarutobi about this, and others would have to be informed the question was who. His big question was why the sound shinobi were trying to abduct these two women who were currently in comas.

"How are they doing?" Hiashi asked Kikiyo.

"They are both stable, they both appear to have been under a strong genjutsu for quite a while. It would appear that being under the genjutsu for so long has done some damage to both of the women. We would need someone with expertise greater than mine to heal them. I would think Tsunade-sama would be perfect but getting her here would be very hard to do." Kikiyo responded.

"Very well how are the other patients?" Hiashi asked.

"Well Neji will be fine. The shuriken wounds are healing nicely. He will be over his chakra exhaustion in a couple days. Naruto-kun has already healed from his newest kunai wounds from the attempted stabbing as has Lady Hinata. Naruto-kun will still take a couple weeks for his arm and hand to heal. Shino is suffering from mild burns but should be fine in a few days. I hear that Sasuke Uchiha will more than likely either be done with being a shinobi or be limited to using one hand, unless we can get a hold of Tsunade-sama to also help him." Kikiyo replied.

"I see. I will speak with the Hokage about this but am not sure he will like what I have to talk to him about." Hiashi commented.

"I'll bet. What were those two doing in the long term care ward anyways? I think they should have had Inoichi working with them a long time ago. Have you talked to him about this?" Kikiyo asked as Hiashi shook his head. "And we thought both of them were dead years ago. What are you going to say to the Hokage?" Kikiyo asked.

"I am not sure, but there are too many questions and not enough answers. Do not tell anyone about our two guests until we have seen the Hokage." Hiashi said and Kikiyo nodded and left.

--

Four beds were in the room filled with three Uzumaki and one Hyuuga. "Oneesan, why did you have to get hurt again?" Hanabi whined.

"She was protecting her love." Yugito said as she made her lips pucker as if she was going to kiss. This caused Hinata to turn bright red.

"Yugito, leave Hinata-hime alone!" Naruto yelled at his little sister.

"How many did you get Naruto-Oniisan?" Yugito asked.

"Let's see. I got two Hyuuga, a demon and a barrier. That is all I can claim." Naruto replied with a foxy grin.

"Ah, I got only two sound chunin before they broke my leg and stabbed me. Hey does a barrier even count?" Yugito questioned.

"Sure, if the Hokage is trapped behind it." Naruto retorted as Hinata giggled.

"What are you guys doing? You think that it was a contest? Konoha was invaded and we did what we could to try to help." Shinbo castigated the quarrelling siblings. "Anyways, I got a Sand jonin, and five chunin from Sound." Shinbo smirked.

"I say a demon and a barrier are worth at least a dozen jonin from Sand." Naruto retaliated verbally. "Heck I even helped defeat a Sanin. Beat that." Naruto said as he tried to cross his arms forgetting his cast. "Ow, ow, ow!!"

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked concerned.

Naruto scratched his head with his left hand. "Yeah Hinata-hime, I just keep on forgetting about this broken arm. Darn cast." Naruto complained as Hinata again giggled at Naruto's antics.

--

"How bad was it?" Sarutobi asked from his hospital bed.

"Not as bad as it could have been." Kakashi answered first from the surrounding jonin.

"Yah, had Naruto not forced the Kazekage's son to surrender and then opened a hole in the barrier the invasion would have lasted a lot longer." Anko said almost excited. "We lost some good people. But on the bright side we did win and took a lot more of them than they took of us."

"We are currently at about one third normal strength right now but we can be back to two-thirds in a couple months. Otherwise I agree with Anko-sans and Kakashi-sans assessments. The sound invasion force was completely wiped out. Suna's forces were also decimated, but more like about eighty percent were either captured or killed. We did take quite a few prisoners, mostly Sand shinobi. It does appears that Orochimaru was the mastermind behind this attack. We also got word earlier today from Suna that the Kazekage's body was found near Suna." Ibiki stated.

"I see, now the reason I brought you all here. I want to know your opinion on the genin that participated in the chunin exams." Sarutobi asked.

"Both Nara and the Sand girl both showed very good strategic ability. The demon, I mean Naruto showed promise but I don't think he is ready. Sasuke Uchiha is ready. Gaara and Kankurou of the sand are not ready. Shino Aburame did not show us anything so I would say no to him. What?" A jonin in the back commented as the killing intent in the room went through the roof. Kakashi, Anko, Genma, and Kurenai were all looking at the Jonin. Zabuza has shifted behind the man and was pulling a kunai out. Sarutobi shook his head at this.

"I will not comment on my students' performance, but if you ever again refer to one of my students as demon again you will never have children do I make myself clear." Kurenai threatened as Sarutobi chuckled.

"I like the kid too. So watch what you say." Zabuza said menacingly. Kakashi had put his book away.

Said jonin was found later that day tied up near the front gates only wearing underpants. He decided never to insult Naruto again, especially in front of Kakashi, or Genma. Kurenai, Zabuza and Anko were even worse than Kakashi or Genma. They called for castration, but were overruled by Kakashi and Genma.

--

"Hello Sasuke-kun." Sakura said affectionately as she entered Sasuke's hospital room.

"What do you want?" Sasuke angrily looked at the pink haired girl.

"I wanted to see how you were doing? But if you want to be alone and mope be my guest. Lee-san has asked me out on a date and I am going to accept as I seem to not be wanted here." Sakura retorted.

"You would go out with that eyebrow freak?" Sasuke asked.

"Well at least he treats me… human. Unlike a certain stuck up Uchiha teammate of mine. Naruto was right you do have a stick up your ass." Sakura said as she turned to leave. She then turned back and looked angrily at Sasuke. "A little advice, if you keep pushing girls away you will either be left with none or you will be thought to be homosexual. It is your choice." Sakura left in an angry huff.

'I can't deal with girls right now I have to get stronger so that I can kill Itachi, and then I can think about rebuilding the clan.' Sasuke thought to himself.

--

'Jeez, just who does he think he is? He keeps on pushing all the girls away, pushing me away. I am tired of being treated like trash by him. At least Lee might appreciate me.' Sakura thought as she left the hospital and approached Lee.

"Sakura-chan, so how did it go with Sasuke-kun?" Lee asked.

"He is a jerk." Sakura said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Lee looked down smiled kindly and then offered Sakura his arm. "Come Sakura-chan, we will drown your sorrows in a dango or two, my treat." Sakura sadly smiled and then nodded as she took Lee's arm. They walked down the street to a local dango stand.

A figure watched them from the background as the pair walked into the dango stand.

--

"I have brought you home Sakura-chan. I hope you are feeling better and I believe that Sasuke-kun will eventually do better with your advances. I am sorry he is not ready yet. Have a good evening Sakura-chan." Lee said with a big grin and put his thumb up.

"Thank you Lee, and thank you for understanding. Good night." Sakura replied as she closed her door.

"You may come out and show yourself. You are not that good at hiding yourself." Lee said to no one in particular.

"I am sorry Lee-kun. Please forgive me." A female voice came from the bushes.

--

Somewhere in the Rice Field country, "Kabuto cut them off! It has already reached my elbows! Cut them off!" Orochimaru yelled as the pain of dying nerves had become excruciating.

"Strap him down. He is not ready to transfer just yet so strap him down and prepare to remove Orochimaru-sama's arms. Also give him anesthesia." Several other medical nin helped strap Orochimaru down to the table and then gave him sedatives to knock him out.

--

A blond woman apparently in her twenties had sneezed and caused the ball on the roulette table to change from her number to another. This caused her to lose her roulette game. 'If I find out who was talking about me just now I will kill them.' Tsunade said angrily.

"Is everything alright Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked.

"Yeah, someone was talking behind my back and caused me to sneeze and lose that game." Tsunade replied.

--

"So Orochimaru's plans failed and the Kyuubi container has made a name for himself?" A shadowy figure asked a group of other shadows.

"It would appear so leader. So when do we move?" Another shadow asked with red eyes.

"It will be some time yet." The leader responded. "But you can check on him if you like."

"Thank you leader, Kisame and I will leave now." The red eyed shadow responded.

--

"You status as probationary shinobi has been lifted Zabuza and Haku. We will now work on finding places for you in the regular forces. It may be boring for a while as we need do rebuild the village but there should be plenty of missions for you. Zabuza you are going to be assigned as a special jonin and Haku you will be a floating genin. Right now we have some large holes in our forces. I think can find places for both of you." Sarutobi said from his bed.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, we are greatly honored." Haku said as she bowed.

"I agree with Haku-chan Hokage-sama. I am thankful you shortening our probation. We were just on our way to see that gaki, Naruto." Zabuza said.

"Say hello to him and tell him 'thank you' from me. I am not sure I would be here if he did not do what he did." Sarutobi said smiling.

"What did he do exactly?" Haku asked.

"Oh, that is right you guys were in the village during the exams. Naruto defeated Gaara of the sand and then broke a hole in the barrier that Orochimaru's men had set up. The hole was big enough for some help to enter and help me stop him from doing much more than injuring me. Like an old fool I used a forbidden jutsu and aged myself a decade." Sarutobi said playfully.

"I am sorry we missed the party. Oh well I took a several jonin to the cleaners with Naruto's fight." Zabuza said jokingly.

"I hear both of you brought in about thirty Sand and Sound prisoners. Ibiki will be busy for quite a while thanks to both of you. Now go and see your friends." Sarutobi said as he shooed the former water nin out of his hospital room.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Sarutobi sighed. 'What now?'

"Hokage-san, we would like to have a word with you if you don't mind." Koharu said as she and Homura entered the room.

"With all of these visitors I will not be able to heal properly, but for my old teammates I will make an exception." Sarutobi said tiredly. 'I wonder what that old goat and bat want now.'

"We have just gotten out of a council meeting and they are split on what to do about the invasion. Most members want reconstruction and then war on the Sound village. What is your opinion Sarutobi?" Koharu asked.

"I say we do the reconstruction and then get back to normal as soon as possible. We are not in a position to be making war even on a small village such as the Sound. Orochimaru can wait. I would like to speak with my student Jiriaya as soon as possible." Sarutobi responded.

"We would also like to speak about the child being housed in the Hyuuga household and the girl from Kiri." Homura said.

"What of Naruto-kun and Haku-chan?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well the girl possesses a Kekkei Genkai, and we want to make sure it is not lost. We are proposing a marriage of Sasuke Uchiha to the girl, so that we could have both bloodlines in the same family." Koharu said.

"The girl will not be forced to marry as her foster father will cleave anyone in two who tries to do that. Zabuza-san is not fond of politics and I am sure not allow you or the council to force Haku-chan to marry. As for Sasuke Uchiha he is nowhere near ready to start a family. He is too driven right now by hate and anger to be a loving father. He would abandon his children just for a chance at his brother. Also the chances of Sasuke liking or agreeing to the marriage are slim at best. He does not like Zabuza." Sarutobi said sternly.

"Very well we will drop this subject for now Sarutobi." Homura replied.

"Now what is it that you want to discuss about Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked.

"Several of the council members want Naruto out of the Hyuuga household. Some want him to be married off to their daughters, others do not, and a few want 'the demon destroyed'." Koharu replied.

"That is a decision for Kakashi, Hiashi and Naruto-kun to decide. Naruto-kun appears to be happy now so I am sure he will not want to move. Also there are his adopted siblings to worry about. As for killing him they can resign their place on the council if they feel that way about the person who quite literally saved the village. At least he saved those in the stadium and myself." Sarutobi stated.

"What about his adopted siblings. They can stay with the Hyuuga. Also Haruno is pushing for a marriage between their daughter and either Sasuke or Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki has made quite an impression on the citizens of Konoha. They are calling him 'the demon of the leaf', and 'Shukaku's tamer', there are several others. Naruto Uzumaki has turned form pariah to celebrity in the matter of hours. He is credited for defeating the demon container Gaara and helping you in your battle. Several of the minor clans are worried that the Hyuuga will become too powerful." Homura commented.

"I am glad he is getting some notoriety. I did not hear your opinions on chunin exam. Care to share that with me?" Sarutobi asked as he deflected the elders concerns.

--

"Hey gaki, you married to the pale eyed girl yet? If not you could always marry Haku-chan." Zabuza said laughingly as he entered the room. Hinata and Haku both blushed at his statement. Naruto was angry for a second and then smiled at the sight of his friends Zabuza and Haku.

"So Zabuza-san, are you offering up your daughter to marry me?" Naruto said playfully as Haku-chan blushed.

"I don't know are you asking?" Zabuza replied.

"Well I don't know, I do have Hinata-hime. Having two wives might be how does Shikamaru put it? 'Troublesome'." Hinata and Haku both blushed as Hinata tapped Naruto's left shoulder in a mock hit.

"So you have already secured a marriage to Hinata-chan? Did you ask Hiashi-sama about this?" Zabuza asked knowing that Hiashi was just outside the room.

"Well… no. I was going to ask but I don't think I am old enough yet to do that sort of thing." Naruto smiled as Hinata hugged Naruto.

"Given your status now as a hero, it would be hard to refuse you asking for my daughter's hand. But for now I will not give you an answer Naruto." Hiashi said as he stuck his head in the room. "I apologize Haku-chan, it sounds like Naruto-san is off the market so to speak."

Haku smirked. "Only if Hinata-sama is unwilling to share Naruto-kun." Haku replied playfully as she winked at Hinata who just blushed.

The room erupted in laughter as Naruto turned bright red. Hinata hugged Naruto again and kissed him on the cheek, she hit a whisker mark. Naruto's eyes glazed over as he laid back and just grinned. Everyone in the room again laughed.

Haku bent over and kissed Naruto on the other cheek and elicited the same reaction from him Hinata did. She then whispered into Hinata's ear. "You have nothing to worry about I have my sights on another strong shinobi." Haku said as she blushed.

--

A/N: Sorry for the filler chapter but had to put a few things on the table and now I can continue the story. The two women are going to be featured in the next chapter. Please do not guess who they are as I will reveal it in the next chapter. I hope you liked the chapter. As I am working on several stories at once I am trying to keep up with a good update schedule. I will try to not keep you in too much suspense on who the women are. Oh and yes Sasuke is still an emo, at least for now. I am not sure how I am going to handle emo boy yet but it will be fun for a while. Also I am going to start diverging from cannon somewhat. As if I haven't already. Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter but hey it was a filler chapter to push the story along. Also next chapter: Who are they and who made chunin…

Chewie cookies: No rape to be involved but Orochimaru was going to be up to no good.

SpeakerofNaught: You may be right, but pearls are not in all oysters. I may change the description some but there are only so many words I can use. As for the title well, I would have to start it over again. But hey people are stumbling over it all the time. I also have get back to the early chapters to make my possible reader look harder at the story. As this was my first fiction story I started with no betas and no experience, just an idea and a dream. :D

GraityTheWizard: No, Haku will not be another Anko or Ibiki, she has her own personality. She is cold and calculated in battle but gentle otherwise. She is also very logical, well sort of. She is more the capture type than the kill type Zabuza is, so it would be logical to take those that are captured to Ibiki.


	35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

The answers to some questions revealed, more questions are brought up. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 35 -

Hiashi and Kikiyo had waited until the next day before they talked to Sarutobi. "I know you have been busy Hokage-sama but we have some matters to discuss." Hiashi stated as he and Kikiyo sat by Sarutobi's bed.

"What do you want to discuss Hiashi? I know you must be busy Kikiyo with all of those patients that overflowed into the Hyuuga compound. The village really does appreciate you allowing those people to recover inside your compound Hiashi." Sarutobi replied happily.

"Thank you Hokage-sama. We do what we can for the village. Now to the matters we need to discuss." Hiashi watched Sarutobi for a sign to continue. Sarutobi nodded. "First when we went to the hospital to help with evacuating patients and personnel there, we found several Sound shinobi abducting a couple women. These women were in a seldom used wing. The really strange thing is that both women were thought to be dead years ago. They both are apparently under a strong genjutsu." Hiashi stated.

"An unused portion of the hospital you say? I had nothing other than the usual high security wards in the hospital. I find it odd that people were in such an area. So don't leave me in suspense, who are they?" Sarutobi asked.

"Kushina Uzumaki and Mikoto Uchiha." Hiashi replied with a sour look on his face.

"I saw both of their bodies when they died." Sarutobi said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What is their current condition?"

"Their bodies are mostly strong especially for being in a coma for years. There is also more disturbing news." Kikiyo replied.

"What could be more than disturbing than people who are supposed to be dead are found alive?" Sarutobi asked almost sure he did not want to hear what Kikiyo would have to say.

"They are both under a strong genjutsu. I am hoping Inoichi can break it. But really is disturbing is that both women were being prepped and appear to have been used as breeders. My guess is that they were hoping to use both women for their strengths, Mikoto for the Sharingan and Kushina for her massive chakra reserves. I feel that this was going to be a breeding program to mix the Uzumaki and Uchiha lines. To what end I do not know." Kikiyo replied.

"Since we can tell you were not behind this there is only a few people we could think of that would want to do this." Hiashi stated angrily.

"Danzou or the council could be behind this. Danzou may want to reestablish root, and the council for not wanting to wait for Sasuke to mature and then have children. This is very disturbing. I want only your clan, the Yaminaka and the boys to know about this. This will also give Naruto a reason to go meet with Tsunade. Do I make myself clear?" Sarutobi ordered.

"Yes Hokage, but when should we tell Naruto-san and Sasuke about their mothers?" Kikiyo asked.

"You can let Naruto know immediately if you like. I would like to wait on Sasuke until Tsunade or Inoichi can help them. Oh and tell Inoichi that he cannot tell his daughter about this." Sarutobi said sternly knowing that if Ino knew then the whole village would know.

"Hai!" Hiashi and Kikiyo both replied as they left.

--

"Inoichi please come with us if you would." Hiashi stated quietly as Inoichi answered the door to his house.

"Welcome Hiashi. What can I do for the Hyuuga today?" Inoichi asked loudly.

Hiashi nodded acknowledgement. "The Hokage needs your services as soon as possible." Hiashi replied loudly.

"It must be important for you to come. Honey I will be gone for a couple hours! I will see you at dinner tonight!" Inoichi yelled back into the house.

"Okay we will see you later sweetie!" A voice came from deeper in the house.

"Bye dad!" Ino's voice came from the deeper in the house.

"Bye princess! Okay I am ready to go." Inoichi said as he closed the door behind him.

All three quietly walked to the Hyuuga compound. They entered via the back gates and walked towards the infirmary. "Okay what is so important that you used the Hokage's name to get me here to your house Hiashi?" Inoichi asked pointedly.

"We must pick up Naruto-san on our way to our ultimate location. And the Hokage did authorize this little mission." Hiashi said with a furrowed brow.

Kikiyo poked her head into the room where Naruto, Yugito, Shinbo, and Neji all were laying on their beds. "Naruto-kun, Hinata-sama will you both please come with us. Hinata-sama can you help Naruto-kun?" Kikiyo asked politely.

Naruto shifted in his bed. He pulled his covers back with his left hand while he grimaced about having to move his broken right hand and arm. Hinata helped as much as she could. She helped steady him as he stood up. He wobbled as he stood and started to walk out of the room. "Thanks Hinata-chan, I think I am a little tipsy right now." Naruto commented with a slight blush.

"Nice shorts niisan!" Yugito said with a smirk as she pointed to the hole in Naruto's hospital gown.

Naruto chuckled as he leaned on Hinata as they walked out of the room.

"Hello Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan." Inoichi stated politely.

Naruto bowed his head. "Greetings Yamanaka-sama." Naruto returned the pleasantries.

"You will forgive me if I don't bow Yamanaka-sama, as I am helping Naruto-kun." Hinata said politely.

"Not a problem Hinata-chan. Now lead on Hiashi-san so we can get this over with." Inoichi sounded annoyed with Hiashi.

"No comments until we get into the next room." Hiashi said as he led them into the next room.

Inoichi gasps when he looked up after entering the room. He waited until the door closed before commenting. "When? How? Where did you find them?" Inoichi questioned.

"Who are they Hiashi-sama? I don't get it." Naruto said with a confused look on his face.

"Hinata make sure you have a good hold on Naruto-san." Hiashi warned Hinata. Hiashi walked over to the red headed woman and put his hand on her shoulder. "This Naruto is your mother."

Naruto heard nothing after those words. His feet fell out from underneath him, only Hinata was able to hold him up almost standing. She lowered him to nearly kneeling position. She looked into his eyes and saw him lost in thought as tears ran down his face. Hinata brushed his face to try to soothe his emotions. "It's okay Naruto-kun." She quietly whispered. Naruto didn't hear a word.

Inoichi looked at Naruto then back to Hiashi. "So what are Kushina and Mikoto doing here?" Inoichi asked.

"We found them when several Hyuuga and I went to evacuate the hospital. Several Sound shinobi were taking them from the hospital. We stopped them and then brought them here. They appear to be under a genjutsu, a powerful one. That is why we needed your help Inoichi. I talked to the Hokage and he assured me that if he would have known about them he would have done whatever it took to give Naruto his mother back. Our thinking is that it was Danzou." Hiashi said sadly.

Naruto slowly stood with the help of Hinata. Naruto stumbled towards Kushina's bed. Hinata set Naruto beside his mother. Naruto reached out with his good hand and stoked her face with the outside of his hand. "Mom…" Naruto just stared at her sleeping form. Hinata stayed close to Naruto and steadied him as his emotions finally came to the surface.

Inoichi stood at the base of the bed and made several hand signs. "Ninja art: Mind Exploration Jutsu."

--

Inoichi found himself surrounded by clouds. He heard soft whimpering as if someone was crying. Inoichi walked through the mist towards the crying. He saw Kushina crying in a cell that had a seal on the gate where a lock should be.

"Kushina is that you?" Inoichi asked kindly.

Frightened eyes shot at Inoichi. "Inoichi is that you? Where are my children? Where is Minato?" Kushina demanded franticly.

"Slow down Kushina, Naruto is fine. Now let's get you out of that cage and back to the real world." Inoichi said patiently as he broke the seal.

"Naruto? What about the others? And Minato?" Kushina asked as the world faded.

--

Kushina slowly opened her eyes as she felt a warm hand caressing her cheek. She saw a boy who looked almost exactly like Minato except for whisker marks and a young Hyuuga girl holding him up. She mouthed the word 'Minato?'

"Naruto-kun I think she is awake." The Hyuuga girl, Hinata, said to the boy whose eyes lightened up.

'Naruto-kun? How can he be so old? Were the others not just my imagination?' Kushina wondered to herself. She weakly raised her arms to enfold the boy, her Naruto-kun.

"Gently both of you, Kushina you have been in a coma for almost thirteen years. Also Naruto-san has a broken right arm." Hiashi told them both. Naruto nodded as he braced himself with his good arm and let his mother weakly hug him.

Inoichi scratched his head. "Hiashi we need to talk in private." Inoichi said as he motioned both Hiashi and Kikiyo to the back of the room. "Kushina was locked in a simple genjutsu but it would take an outside force for her to break it. She also mentioned other children. Do either of you know what she may be talking about." Inoichi quietly questioned.

"I don't know all I know is that they only had Naruto as a child." Hiashi replied.

"Who are they?" Kikiyo asked.

"This is an 'S' class secret and should not be told to others. Kushina was secretly married to Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage. So Kikiyo do you know anything about this?" Hiashi commented sternly.

Kikiyo nodded as she understood the meaning of secrecy. "My first examination of both Kushina and Mikoto were interesting to say the least. I have a couple of questions for you gentlemen before I tell you my findings." Kikiyo stated professionally as both men nodded. "How were their children delivered?"

"All three were delivered naturally. Why?" Hiashi replied as he looked at Inoichi who nodded his agreement.

"Well then we have a problem. Kushina seems to have had a couple of cesarean section operations, and Mikoto has had at least one. Both women were healed from this but I am not sure of how long ago it was. And thank you Inoichi for waking Kushina up. It will be a couple days before she will be able to speak unless you want to talk to her with your jutsu. She is weak and will take time to recover. I think she is strong enough for you to talk to her for a little bit at least. I am fairly sure that Mikoto is under the same jutsu as was Kushina and it should be easier to break as she has been under it for less time." Kikiyo replied.

"I will give her and Naruto a little time then I can talk with her. She may be able to shed some light on this whole situation. You said at least two C-sections?" Inoichi asked.

"Yes at least two." Kikiyo smiled weakly as she looked at the mother and son reunion.

"Naruto-kun, be careful you were hurt during the chunin exams and have not healed." Hinata scolded Naruto.

Kushina weakly smiled as Hinata and touched Hinata's leg. Kushina mouthed 'Thank you' to Hinata.

Hinata nodded and mouthed 'You are welcome'.

Naruto pushed himself up and looked into Kushina's eyes. "I missed you mom. I was afraid I was alone."

Hinata held back her tears as she put a reassuring hand on Naruto. "You have never been alone. I have always watched you, Naruto-kun. Now we have your mother back. This is a joyous day Naruto-kun." Hinata said smiling at both the Uzumaki in front of her.

"Okay this is getting too sappy even for me." Inoichi joked. "Kushina I need to enter your mind to talk to you, will you let me? Don't worry Naruto this will not hurt and I will not be long." Inoichi stated as Naruto nodded. Hinata helped Naruto into the chair next to Kushina's bed.

Inoichi made a couple hand signs, and then sat in a chair next to Kushina.

--

Kushina was sitting Indian style waiting for Inoichi as he showed up. "Okay spill it. What did Hiashi mean I was in a genjutsu induced coma for almost thirteen years?" Kushina asked angrily.

"Slow down Kushina. I know we both have questions and we both need answered. I will go first. It is good to see you after almost thirteen years. Your son has missed you as he was told you were dead." Inoichi said calmly.

"Dead? I have been alive for all this time and Minato and Sarutobi did not look for me?" Kushina asked incredulously.

"Minato died the day the Kyuubi attacked. He sealed it in Naruto and died as a result. I am sorry." Inoichi said with his head lowered. "Sarutobi saw your dead body and did not question it at the time. So we all believed you were dead for all this time."

"I see Naruto has grown into a fine young man and who is the Hyuuga girl with him? And where are my girls both my girls?" Kushina asked.

"We only know of you having Naruto. And with Minato being dead since his the day of his birth we are not sure how you would know you had more children." Inoichi shook his head.

"I met my two girls and Naruto. I know each time I made love to Minato and the times I gave birth to each and every one of them. It was several years ago that I gave birth Yuki and a few years ago I gave birth to Yoshiko." Kushina smiled as she remembered fondly the birth of her children. Her face then turned angry. "Then Danzou and several others cornered Minato and I. They then put me in that cage you found me in. I wonder where Minato went too." Kushina looked very sad. "But if what you say is true then Minato being dead all those years… Did I ever have the girls? And if so who was the father?"

"We found evidence that you had at least two C-sections. That would mean you were pregnant at least twice so you may have actually known your two daughters. As for the father, I am not sure if it was Minato, as Danzou could have used artificial insemination on you and then had a cesarean performed on you when you came to term. The person who did the genjutsu would have given you memories so that you would not have to deal with the trauma at the time. I will need to wake Mikoto Uchiha soon. And I will keep in touch with you. For now just enjoy your time with Naruto and Hinata." Inoichi informed Kushina. The mindscape shifted back to the outside world.

--

Kushina looked over at Naruto and put her hand out for him to hold and weakly smiled. 'Naruto-kun I am sorry I missed so much.' Kushina thought as her world slowly went black.

"Kikiyo-san! She blacked out will she be ok?" Naruto worriedly yelled.

Kikiyo ran over to Kushina and checked her out. Kikiyo then sighed. "She has just fallen asleep Naruto-kun. There is no need to worry." Kikiyo replied with a kind smile.

Inoichi put a reassuring hand on Mikoto's should and nodded. Mikoto went to sleep.

--

Outside a redhead appears to be running from an ANBU. "You will not get away!" The rat masked ANBU yells. 'No she is heading towards the Hyuuga compound. This could be trouble.'

The man threw several shuriken at the girl with one hitting the girl on the arm. She yelped in pain as she cleared the complex wall and landed in a heap next to a dark haired girl. "Help me…" The redhead pleaded.

Hanabi was practicing in the gardens when the girl had cleared the wall and collapsed near her. "Father, I need help out here!" Hanabi yelled.

The ANBU landed near the girls and grinned evilly behind his mask. "Lady Hanabi, please stand back and allow me to capture this criminal." The man asked as his voice seethed with anger.

"Why would an ANBU be chasing a young girl?" Hanabi asked as she got into her juken stance.

"Ah, the Juken, how good are you with it? I am sure you are better than your pathetic sister. It will be a pleasure to eliminate one of the main branch so when Root takes over the Hyuuga will be equals." The man said as he got into his own juken stance.

"I see you are a member of the branch family and feel nothing but hatred towards the main branch. Well you will not have long to suffer from your stupidity." Hanabi said with a smirk as she stood and left her stance crossing her arms.

"As usual arrogance of the main branch knows no bounds. Now you die! Ah!!" The man collapsed in pain just as he started to run at Hanabi.

Hiashi was standing behind the man holding his left hand up with pointer and middle finger pointed up. "Apparently not as much arrogance as some of the side branch members have. So root is after this girl. Kikiyo treat the girl and get her to the infirmary. Inoichi and I will deal with this traitor." Hiashi said as he only applied enough chakra to the curse seal to immobilize the man.

"Wait I must talk to the girl, she maybe one of the ones we are looking for. Wait Kikiyo I need to ask her a question." Inoichi said as he caught up with Kikiyo. "Girl if I may ask what is your name?"

"Thank you for your help, my name is Yuki. Please go help my little sister and her friend they are in an abandoned building three blocks to the east of here. Please hurry." Yuki pleaded with Inoichi.

Inoichi looked at Hiashi who nodded as Inoichi then disappeared. "Now 'rat' you will tell me all you know about root. And don't spare any of the details. Hanabi please go inform your sister that we will be having more guests. Have the Uzumaki moved to their rooms." Hiashi stated as he closed on the ANBU. "Now where were we?"

Hanabi looked at her father. "As you wish father, I will inform Naruto-niisan and his siblings." Hanabi replied as she bowed and then left the area.

--

Inoichi got to the abandoned building and saw an ANBU with an eagle mask and the kanji for root on it. Inoichi made several hand signs as the ANBU passed out. After searching for a couple minutes he found two young girls no older than four huddled in a corner. Inoichi slowly approached with his both hands up. "I am Inoichi Yamanaka. I want to take you to your mothers. Would you like that? Also Yuki is safe, she is the one who told me you were here. I will protect so that we can get safely to the Hyuuga compound. You both will see your mothers again and it will be safe there." Inoichi said with a smile.

Both girls got up and ran to Inoichi, who accepted them in an embrace. Inoichi turned as he noticed a presence behind him. Kotetsu was behind him. "Thanks for helping us take out the trash, do you need any more help with escort? I have six regular ANBU. We have taken the root ANBU that you disabled into custody. The four others we got are also going to Ibiki as we speak. Hiashi sent for me as backup."

"I would like that, how many ANBU did you say you had?"Inoichi asked.

"Six, come out guys we are on guard duty." Kotetsu said happily as six masked figures appeared out of the shadows. "Let's get these girls back to their families."

--

A/N: Okay I know your fist question before you ask it… No Kushina and Mikoto were not raped, Inoichi was correct that both women were artificially inseminated. Also root was able to acquire sperm from both the Fourth and Fugaku around the times of their deaths. So the children are biologically from Minato and Fugaku. Danzou did not figure on the lack of potency of male sperm when frozen so they ended up with girls. Danzou maybe evil but he does have some morals. He wants to rebuild the Uchiha however he can and if they can come under root all the better. Here is a tidbit of info... Mikoto was less than a month pregnant when she was 'killled' by Itachi.

As for Danzou knowing that Naruto is the Minato and Kushina's child it is a given as he is the head of root.

Families:

Uzumaki: Kushina –Matriarch; Naruto – eldest son, age 12; Shinbo – adopted son, age 11; Yugito, adopted daughter, age 10; Yuki, eldest natural daughter, age 8; Yoshiko, youngest natural daughter, age 4.

Uchiha: Mikoto – Matriarch; Itachi – eldest son; Sasuke – youngest son, age 13; Sora – youngest daughter, age 4.

Next chapter family powwow… And the search for Tsunade begins…


	36. Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

I will have some replies to the comments at the end of the chapter. So enjoy the chapter….

Chapter 36 – Reunion and the search for Tsunade begins…

Naruto saw a red headed girl being brought down to his former bed Hanabi had arrived to let Naruto, Yugito and Shinbo know they could move back to their own personal rooms. Naruto had told everyone in the room that his mother had been found and he had met her. Naruto's heart went out the girl when he saw the blood drip from her and he wondered what type of wound she had received.

"Hinata put Naruto in the chair and come help me." Kikiyo ordered.

"Hai." Hinata replied as she put Naruto in the chair next to the girl.

Kikiyo quickly removed the dirty and torn shirt from the girl. Naruto looked at the girls face and thought he saw something familiar about her but could not place it.

"Hinata, I need you to apply the gauze to the wound when remove the shuriken. And put pressure on the wound until I can heal it. Do you understand?" Kikiyo demanded as Hinata nodded.

Kikiyo and Hinata worked on the girl for about twenty minutes until they had removed all seven shuriken from the girl. Kikiyo and Hinata stripped off the girls pants and put her in a hospital gown. Naruto watched the women as they worked and was impressed with both of their skills.

"Thank you Hinata for helping me this would have taken a lot longer and she would not be in as good of shape as she is now. And thank you Naruto for your patience with us for having to deal with Yuki." Kikiyo complimented Naruto.

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Thank you Kikiyo-san, but I had nowhere to go and I was truly fascinated by both of your ability to work together and to take care of Yuki here. She is lucky she came when she did. Hinata-chan could have been on the other side of the compound putting me in bed. I am glad we were here so that Hinata-chan could help." Naruto said with a blush.

Inoichi walked in with two more girls a very young blond and a raven haired girl. The blond ran up to Yuki yelling "Nii chan! Please be alright Nii chan!"

Naruto rubbed the girls head with his left hand. "She is in good hands with Kikiyo-san and Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a reassuring smile.

The blond looked directly at Inoichi. "Okay neechan is okay. Where is Kaa-san?" The girl demanded.

"Okay Yoshiko, Naruto why don't you come along too. You will find this interesting." Inoichi replied the girl.

Naruto looked at Kikiyo and Hinata longingly. "Go, I can handle it here. Both of you go. She will be okay, I will let you know if there is any change." Kikiyo assured Naruto.

Hinata helped Naruto to his feet as they followed Inoichi.

"Why are they coming to see kaa-san?" Yoshiko asked.

"You will find out soon Yoshiko-chan." Inoichi responded kindly.

Naruto was surprised when they turned into the room where his mother and Mikoto were resting.

"Kaa-san!" Both girls yelled as they ran to either of the women sleeping. Both girls turned to Inoichi. "What is wrong with her?" Both girls asked in unison.

"They are both sleeping." Inoichi answered with a smile.

Inoichi kneeled next to Yoshiko and put his hand on her head. "Yoshiko-chan, I would like you to meet Naruto-kun, your older brother." Inoichi said as he pointed at Naruto.

Yoshiko tentatively pointed at Naruto. "He is my niisan? How can that be? I have never met him." Yoshiko replied as if in shock.

Naruto looked at Inoichi as if to question. 'They are my sisters?' Inoichi nodded. With Hinata's help Naruto kneeled. "Yoshiko-chan is your name?" Naruto asked as Yoshiko nodded. "Well… The woman behind you is my kaa-san too. So that would make me your brother. Would you like to have a brother?" Naruto asked almost not wanting to hear a negative response.

Yoshiko looked as if in thought. "Boys are icky. But if you are a nice brother then I guess it will be okay." Yoshiko responded happily.

Naruto chuckled. "I will try to be a nice brother for you and Yuki. We do have another brother and sister, I adopted them. Actually they adopted me in a way. Would you like to meet them while our mother is sleeping?" Naruto asked with a smile. "Oh and this is my really good friend Hinata-chan." Naruto said as he nodded towards Hinata.

Yoshiko bowed to Hinata. "A plea… pleas… I am happy to meet you," Yoshiko finally said frustrated that she could not say what she wanted to say.

"I am pleased to meet you also, Yoshiko-chan." Hinata replied politely. "Shall we go so Naruto-kun can also get some rest and we don't wake up your mother?"

"You go I will keep an eye on Sora-chan." Inoichi said as he sat in a chair behind a whimpering Sora. "We will go meet with Sasuke and the Third after Mikoto wakes up."

"I don't know how to thank you Inoichi-sama. You brought back my mother and then you brought me a couple of sisters. I just don't know how to thank you." Naruto said as a few tears fell from his face.

"Naruto-kun, let's get you back to your room and we can visit with Yoshiko, Yugito, and Shinbo." Hinata coaxed Naruto into leaving with Yoshiko.

"So niisan where are we? Why do we not live in the same house? Why is your arm that way? Who are Yugito and Shinbo? Why are her eyes all lavender? Huh? Huh?" Yoshiko asked as they walked along.

Naruto looked at Hinata. "Was I ever like that?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

Hinata smiled warmly and blushed. "Yes are like that when it comes to ramen or jutsu." Hinata said with a chuckle.

Naruto took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "We are in the Hyuuga house and this is Hinata Hyuuga, my teammate and best friend. As for living in the same house we have not known about each other until now, I thought I was all alone. Yugito and Shinbo are two people I met while I was on a mission and we had a lot in common so we became a family of sorts. Hinata is a Hyuuga and all Hyuuga either have white, silver-ish, or lavender eyes, that is part of being Hyuuga. Ah, we are at Yugito's room." Naruto stated happily.

Hinata knocked gently. "Yugito-chan it is Naruto-kun and I, we also have an interesting guest. Can we come in?" Hinata asked through the door.

"Just a minute I am not decent." Yugito yelled back through the door. 'If it was just Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan I would be fine, but a guest, jeez where are my shirts.' Was heard from behind the door as Yugito grumbled about having a guest. "Okay you can come in." (Yugito is wrapped in bandages and considers Naruto a brother so seeing her torso wrapped in bandages would not bother her.)

Hinata slid the door open and they entered. They saw Yugito sitting on the bed with Hanabi. "Naruto-niisan, Hinata-chan, I am happy to see you so soon. Who is this? She is adorable." Yugito said with a squeal.

Hinata set Naruto down on Yugito's bed near the headboard so he could lean against the wall. Hinata then sat down beside Naruto and smiled at him.

"Yugito, Hanabi this is Yoshiko my little sister. Yoshiko this is Yugito my adopted sister and this is Hanabi is Hinata's sister." Naruto said quietly. A moment later the noise was nearly deafening with all the questions the girls were asking. Naruto could only just shake his head as he rested against the headboard.

--

"We have lost them all Danzou-sama." A raven masked ANBU stated as he bowed before Danzou.

"This is not good. We must not have our plans pushed aside. The Uchiha boy is still valuable even injured. He could still be able to rebuild the clan." Danzou continued to look stoic. Danzou a man of few words and several sever injuries, a couple so sever he lost his left arm and eye. "I am thinking I must challenge Sarutobi else all we have worked for will be destroyed. Either that or Sarutobi must die."

"I am deeply sorry Danzou-sama we were not expecting the Uzumaki girl to be able to run and take the other two with her. We also lost eight Root operatives including our only Hyuuga recruit. He is now with Ibiki and Hiashi. They more than likely will find out that you have not disbanded Root sir." Raven stated waiting for orders.

"The council will protect me for now. I want Naruto Uzumaki to be captured as soon as possible." Danzou ordered.

"Hai!" Raven replied and then disappeared.

--

"Sarutobi we must talk." Koharu stated as she entered Sarutobi's hospital room.

"And what can I do for my old teammates at this late hour?" Sarutobi stated annoyed that both Koharu and Homura had barged into his hospital room at nearly midnight. Sarutobi had just finished his paperwork from his office and wanted to get some sleep. 'What are the old windbags up too?' Sarutobi thought.

"It is time to find a successor." Homura stated.

Sarutobi smiled as he had them right where he wanted them. "I thought the very same thing so I am nominating Naruto Uzumaki. What do you think?" Sarutobi asked with a smile and a glimmer in his eye. Homura looked as if he was going to have a heart attack and Koharu looked like she was having a stroke. "You don't like my choice for the next Hokage? Why not?" Sarutobi asked jokingly and acting like he was hurt.

"Please Sarutobi do not joke about something as important as the position of Hokage. Why would we ever consider that child for the position of Hokage, ever? I would just as soon put Sasuke Uchiha in as he currently is as Hokage then Naruto Uzumaki." Homura asked.

"We know you favor the boy but the safety of the village is at stake here. We suggest that you nominate Danzou as acting Hokage until we get word from Jiriaya as to whether Tsunade-hime will accept the position." Koharu stated more gently.

"I will take it under consideration." Sarutobi stated bluntly.

"Please see that you do old friend as we could have the council give a no confidence vote on your tenure at Hokage." Homura stated a little too bluntly for Sarutobi's and Koharu's tastes as both scowled at the man.

"Are you threatening me, your Hokage?" Sarutobi questioned letting out so much killing intent that the ANBU stationed close and in his room appeared immediately. "I take what you said as a personal threat Homura-san. I am hoping for our friendship it was not. Now leave my sight I have other appointments and do not need to be bothered by threats from old men." Sarutobi unceremoniously dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"If you will please follow us…" A bear faced ANBU showed Homura and Koharu the door. They met Hiashi, Kurenai, Kikiyo, and Jiriaya as they left.

"And we missed the old crow's convention." Jiriaya joked, which caused Hiashi to smirk, Kikiyo and Kurenai to both chuckled. Jiriaya waved to the elders as they walked down the hall. Jiriaya waited until he entered the room and shut the door before speaking. "I see they again have left you in a great mood sensei."

"At least you can joke at time like this. They want me to put Danzou in as temporary Hokage until you bring Tsunade back. They even had the nerve to threaten a no confidence vote on me as Hokage." Sarutobi said as his anger started to abate.

"Well our news may not bring you into a better mood. But we do have some useful information." Hiashi stated bluntly.

"Okay I am game with information. I shared mine now you share yours." Sarutobi said jokingly.

"Yes Hokage-sama. As you know we found both Kushina Uzumaki and Mikoto Uchiha being taken from the supposedly abandoned wing of the hospital when we were going to evacuate the survivors." Hiashi recounted.

"Yes I remember, you saying they have been under long term genjutsu." Sarutobi replied.

"Yes they both were under genjutsu. Inoichi was able to break the genjutsu. There are more complications." Hiashi said as he sighed.

"Okay what are they? I know I really don't want to know but let me have it any ways." Sarutobi sighed out his opinion.

Kikiyo took a step forward. "It appears that there are more Uzumaki and Uchiha then we thought there were before." Kikiyo raised a hand to forestall the Hokage's next question."It appears that Mikoto was at least a month or so pregnant when the Uchiha massacre happened, her daughter Sora is a healthy four year old. Kushina has been artificially inseminated twice. She has two daughters Yuki and Yoshiko they are a healthy eight and four year olds. We are running tests as Kushina claims the children are Minato's. We will know if they are by tomorrow. They have taken to Naruto just fine, and has he taken to them too. Kushina and Mikoto are resting comfortably right now and under the protection of both ANBU and the Hyuuga." Kikiyo finished her report.

"This is disturbing that Kushina was used to produce children. Is there more?" Sarutobi asked concerned.

"I am afraid so. I captured one of the ANBU root member following the girls as they apparently escaped from the Root head quarters. Leave it up to an Uzumaki to figure out how to escape a prison with people who have no emotions. Danzou wants power and apparently he at least has your old teammates behind him. I am worried about all the Uzumaki, Uchiha and Hyuuga if they ever get in control. Can't you just have them killed by another village and call it an accident?" Jiriaya asked jokingly.

"Jiriaya we can't just go killing our disloyal elders we would be no better than Orochimaru. Also I would need more proof to be able to do that. I would need enough to prove treason." Sarutobi chided his student.

"Ah, come on it might be fun. And he could be right about at least one thing for once." Jiriaya joked.

"It is people like Danzou and your former teammate that have caused Naruto such grief over the years. How could it not be good to remove them from society? They are evil and they do not apparently have good intentions for the village." Hiashi continued Jiriaya's tirade.

"Both of you, that will be enough out of you!" Sarutobi ordered. "Now I want you, Jiriaya to take Naruto and Hinata to find Tsunade."

"Why take the girl?" Jiriaya asked.

"As you remember she is also a type of jinchuuriki." Sarutobi asked as Jiriaya nodded. "According to Hiashi her tenant will be fully healed in about a week or so. I want her away from the village when that happens if she lets off a large chakra blast as she syncs with her seal, Danzou will know who it is and move to take her. Also it would be a good outing for the happy couple. You can train them while you look for Tsunade. They both have great potential and we will need them later on."

"You also approve of me, me, taking your daughter out of the village?" Jiriaya asked Hiashi, who only nodded.

"That works fine for my team as Shino will be out for a month as he integrates a new hive into his body." Kurenai stated. "Also make sure that Hinata returns as pure as when she left and has not been subjected to any of your perversion." Kurenai threatened.

"What? She is too young and heck she is betrothed to Naruto, like I would want to further that right now. And Naruto always seems to disrupt my research anyways. Okay I will take them. Hiashi I would keep a real close eye on both Yugito and Shinbo. If Danzou figures out we have three demon container and one celestial container he will force us into a fight with the other villages using their power, and more than likely killing them in the process." Jiriaya said as everyone realized he did appreciate and have concern for the containers.

"We will keep a protective eye on all of the Uzumaki. Kushina and the girls are going to be angry that you are taking Naruto away from them so soon after they were reunited." Hiashi promised.

"It can't be helped, according to my sources Akatsuki is on the move they will want Naruto and the others if they find them. Keep the other two hidden. We do not want to lose them to Akatsuki. The family will have some down time when I return. Oh, I would keep Sasuke in the dark until after I get back.

--

Naruto had fallen asleep in the greeting area with both Hinata and Yoshiko. Naruto had his head tilted to the left and was on Hinata's. Hinata was asleep against his left shoulder. Yoshiko had fallen asleep with her head on Naruto's lap.

Hiashi and Kikiyo smiled as they saw the sight of the children sleeping. Kikiyo and Hiashi put blankets on all the children but carefully lifted Yoshiko's head so that Kikiyo could cover Naruto. Kikiyo smiled as she put a hand on Hiashi's arm. "They look cute don't they?"

Hiashi nodded as they left the room and turned the lights off. "We will check on them in the morning."

Naruto woke up the next morning and realized he had fallen asleep sitting up. He felt weight on his lap and his arm wrapped around something to his left. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed a blue-black mop of hair leaning up against his shoulder. He then noticed a yellow mop on his lap. Smiling he remembered last night, neither Hinata nor Yoshiko would leave his side so instead of going to his room he went to the greeting room. Apparently they had all fallen asleep and someone had put blankets on all of them.

Naruto smiled as felt the affection of Hinata and his newly found younger sister. "Hinata-chan, Yoshiko-chan time to wake up…" Naruto said quietly.

Hinata stirred first by creasing her brow and talking. "No Naruto-kun, let me sleep with a little longer. Hopefully father won't find us." Hinata then smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek. She then lowered her head back to his shoulder.

"Hinata-chan we are in the Greeting room and could get caught by almost anyone." Naruto said playfully.

"That is what makes this exciting Naruto-kun." Hinata said still not awake and snuggled deeper into Naruto. Naruto blushed at the possible implications of Hinata's dream.

Yoshiko shifted. "They scare me oneechan. Please protect me!" Yoshiko yelled as she brought her hands in front of her face. This woke Hinata from her dream to see the blond girl on Naruto's lap scream.

Naruto shifted and grabbed Yoshiko's shoulder and brought her into a hug. "Sh… You are okay. I will protect you." Naruto said as he tried to be as reassuring as possible.

"Yuki where are you and kaa-san?" Yoshiko opened her eyes and was surprised to see worried blue eyes that looked like hers, she then remember her brother Naruto, and laid her head in his chest and cried. Naruto did all he could to try to soothe his sister. Hinata even tried to help.

After about twenty minutes Yoshiko had calmed enough for Naruto and Hinata to take her to Kushina's room. Kushina was awake and opened her arms, Yoshiko immediately ran to her mother who embraced her with a single arm. Naruto hesitated as Kushina nodded at Naruto who walked up into her gentle embrace. Hinata put her hand in front of her mouth to hide her sadness and happiness from playing on her face as tears ran down her face. 'I am happy for you Naruto-kun.'

Hinata suddenly doubled over in apparent pain. "Naruto-kun…" Was all she could spill forth from her mouth but it was only a whisper.

Naruto felt something tug at him and he turned his head to see Hinata double over in pain. Kushina saw Hinata's distress and let Naruto go. Naruto was at her side immediately. "Hinata-chan what is wrong? Are you okay?" Naruto worriedly asked as he put his hand on her back and attempted keep her from collapsing on the floor. "Kikiyo, we need some help in here now!" Naruto yelled as his eyes became damp with moisture. "Kikiyo!" Naruto yelled again worry written all over his face.

Kikiyo came running in only a night shirt and panties."What is it Naruto?" She asked frantically until she saw Hinata crouched in pain. She kneeled beside Hinata and started to ask questions."Are you in pain?" Hinata nodded. "Where does it hurt?" Hinata pointed to her stomach. "Can I take a look?" Hinata sat down gently with Kikiyo and Naruto's help.

Kikiyo opened Hinata's night kimono not realizing she was only wearing panties beneath. Naruto saw Hinata's bear chest and blushed profusely. He then saw the seal on Hinata stomach as it glowed a dark purple. Naruto fumbled with his own kimono and opened it. 'Hinata-chan and Hime need our help!' Naruto thought to the fox.

Naruto's seal appeared on his stomach and red chakra leaked out and touched Hinata's seal. Kikiyo watched as Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head and a look of utter pain washed over his face. Naruto gritted his teeth. A few seconds later Hinata's seal turned lavender and faded. The red chakra receded and Naruto collapsed next to Hinata. Hinata went limp at the same moment.

Yoshiko and Kushina had looks of fear and terror on their faces. "What is wrong with niisan?" Yoshiko asked frantically.

"You will have to wait for an explanation later. Orderly get Hiashi and Jiriaya here immediately." Kikiyo yelled as she gently set Hinata down and closed her kimono to preserve her dignity.

Hiashi came running down the hall a few moments later. "What is wrong? What happened?" He asked frantically as he saw both Naruto and Hinata lying on the floor. Hiashi also noticed Yoshiko had her head buried in Kushina's embrace as Kushina wore a worried look. "I will explain it all soon Kushina-chan." Hiashi spoke as Kushina just nodded.

Jiriaya entered a couple minutes later. "What happened?"

"It looks like it is time for the seal to merge with Hinata. We need to get her out of town today. Naruto did something to help avert something but it seemed to hurt him as much as it hurt her. They need to leave today." Kikiyo stated as an orderly wrapped a lab coat around Kikiyo.

Jiriaya nodded. "Hiashi have their stuff readied by noon, we leave then. I want to put some distance between Konoha and us before this happens again. Are you going to come along Kikiyo to monitor Hinata?" Jiriaya asked.

"I will go with you until Hinata is out of the woods and then I will return as I have too many patients to stay away from the village for more than a week." Kikiyo answered.

"Okay I will make all the preparations. I will send an escort out before you and after you for a few miles outside the village, that should deter anyone from pulling something." Hiashi stated.

--

A/N: First I would like to assure you that both Yuki and Yoshiko are Minato and Kushina's children. Artificial insemination would only need sperm from Minato to work, as male sperm are more delicate they would not survive the freezing process as good. Also we are talking about people who are nearly at cloning technology thanks to Orochimaru and the like.

Yes Hinata is having problems with the final merging of chakra from Hime into herself. Naruto with the help of Kyuubi were able to stop a chakra pulse and giving away the fact that Hinata has something sealed in her. Thus the reason they want to take her out of town to have the release go more smoothly. Yes the Kyuubi understands what will happen if others find out this suddenly. Kyuubi helped in so far as rechanneling the chakra, this caused both Hinata a lot of pain as their chakra networks were taxed.

I would also like to thank my loyal but small fan base for this story. I thank you all for your patience dealing with my errors and stupid mistakes for my first fiction attempt. While this is my least popular by hits per chapter, story I like it the most. So thank for your loyal reading. I will endeavor to improve my writing and I am hoping to return to the earlier chapters and improve and fix this story.

Now to my answer session:

Neito: that would be neat if I did that but he needs to fester for a little while.

Nebula1701: Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke are all 12. It is early July and Sasuke will turn 13 soon.

I am Telgar: Kushina is in no condition to fight right now. She has micro fractures in her bones and has been in a coma for nearly 13 years. Currently it would not be a good fight at Danzo is still more powerful than Naruto, but not by much with the Kyuubi's help.

RevenGrand…: Danzou has some protection from the prosecution as the elders currently back him. But don't count on him keep the support of the full council for a long time.

Summer.Kiss: As for who Lee and Haku connect up with… I'm not telling… yet anyways. Sorry.

Next episode… I mean chapter… Naruto and Hinata get close and personal… IN FRONT OF JIRIAYA!! Yuck… poor kids. Who is that having lunch with the great blue beast of Konoha (Lee)? Hiashi comes clean with Kushina. Yuki wonders who is Naruto and who is this annoying girl named Yugito Uzumaki…


	37. Chapter 37 Merging

Disclaimer: I only own the storyline... well a few parts of it. I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from that story. I only own my OC's (Original Characters). I have a message at the end.

Chapter 37 – The binding ceremony, well sort of…

Naruto had quickly said goodbye to his mother and sisters, he also asked Hanabi to watch over them for him. Yuki was very annoyed that she did not get to spend any time with Naruto and get to know him. Naruto told them that Hiashi would tell them everything. Hinata was not feeling well, as she continued to have small chakra pulses emanating from the seal and this caused her a lot of pain so she was quite ready to leave when the time came.

They left quietly and with as little fanfare as possible as only Kiba marked their passing. They made it about ten miles outside of town before Hinata could go no further from the pain.

"Naruto-kun I can't suppress it any more. It feels like my chakra coils are going to explode." Hinata said in tears as Naruto cradled her in his lap.

"Can't you do anything ero-sennin?" Naruto implored.

"Let me take a look at her seal." Jiraiya stated as Hinata nodded.

Naruto shifted her a little and lifted her shirt to reveal the dark purple seal.

"I got it!" Jiraiya pulled out a kunai and pricked Hinata's thumb. He took the blood and carefully wiped it on what appeared to be a missing part of the seal. "There that should help."

The blood suddenly turned purple as Hinata arched her back as a wave of chakra hit her. Jiraiya was thrown back as Naruto held onto her for dear life. Naruto's hands started to tingle as he noticed lavender chakra begin to seep out of Hinata. Naruto looked inward. 'I think we need to use your chakra to protect us.' Naruto thought to the fox as red chakra flowed out of him.

"**I agree. First we need to deal with Hime and Hinata's merging then we can deal with the surprise."** Kyuubi responded with a chuckle.

Hinata screamed in pain and for several minutes. After a few more minutes the pain seemed to subside as her screams became a whimpers. Hinata still apparently in pain reached up and grabbed Naruto's face, she kissed him full on the lips. "Thank you Naruto-kun. You and Kyuubi helped us both." Hinata said as she leaned into Naruto's neck and promptly fell asleep. The lavender chakra subsided and Naruto released his red chakra at the same time.

Naruto looked up and saw Jiraiya extracting himself out of a tree. "Good thing we were not in the village. I am thinking we will need to camp for the rest of the day and tonight." Naruto suggested. Naruto stood still holding Hinata and carried her towards Jiraiya.

"I would agree, both you and she need rest. I am sure Hime put a strain on her chakra network. My guess is her chakra control is going to be as bad as yours is and it might even a little worse than yours. I have an exercise that will help you both with chakra control and is a neat jutsu. It requires no hand signs so even you can learn it." Jiraiya said as they started to walk down the road. "We will find a good place to make camp then we will let her rest."

"Sounds good." Naruto replied cheerfully.

---------

"The once powerful village of Konoha, it seems to have fall upon hard times." A tall man in a black cloak with red clouds stated.

"Konoha was hit hard by this invasion but will prosper again. We must be careful in our observations. We need to keep a low profile. Understand Kisame?" The smaller figure wearing a similar cloak ordered.

"Yeah I got it. So you feel nostalgic coming back to your village?" Kisame asked.

"I have no feeling either way, because we have work to do." The smaller figure replied.

-------

Kikiyo and Hiashi brought Yoshiko and Yuki into Kushina's room. Yuki sat in a wheel chair with an annoyed look on her face. Kushina looked up and smiled at her guests. Mikoto was taking a nap and did not stir at the entrance of the guests.

"Kushina, the results are back from the paternity tests. 'He' is their father. I am sure they used artificial insemination but he is the father." Kikiyo stated as Kushina sighed relief at the news.

"Who is my father? Mom would never tell us other than that he was a good man." Yuki implored.

"Yes your father was a good man, but we cannot tell you as he had many enemies and you would be in danger. So without a doubt I can say that Naruto and you girls have the same father and mother." Hiashi stated. He then looked directly at Kushina. "The agreement stands. They will be told when they are sixteen."

Kushina nodded her understanding. "What agreement and who are you talking about?" Yuki asked.

"That information was not for you Yuki-chan." Hiashi stated with a smile.

"That is no fun." Yuki pouted.

"Now for the more important news." Hiashi stated as he took a deep breath and then let it out. "Kushina, the Yondaime did the sealing." Hiashi stated as gently as possible as Kushina gasped and put her hand to her mouth. She shook her head from side to side as tear flowed down her face.

"Mommy, what's wrong? What did you say to hurt mommy?" Yoshiko yelled at Hiashi.

"This is a village secret and we need you to understand that if you tell others it could hurt your brother very badly." Hiashi sternly stated. Yoshiko gulped and nodded. Yuki nodded.

"I do not know if you have been taught history or not, but nearly thirteen years ago the demon fox, the Kyuubi, attacked Konoha. Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage battled the demon fox." Hiashi started his story.

"Mommy, this is scary." Yoshiko exclaimed as she buried her head in Kushina's chest. Kushina wrapped her daughter in a hug and smiled warmly at Yoshiko.

"Well no mortal can kill a demon. But there are ways to deal with them none the less." Hiashi continued his story as Kushina began to cry. "The day the Kyuubi attacked we lost many fine shinobi and quite a few villagers. Most everyone hates the Kyuubi for what it did."

"Mommy why are you crying?" Yoshiko asked she looked into her mother's eyes. Kushina's eyes showed deep hurt and sorrow.

"Because she understands the story." Hiashi commented.

"That figures. She was alive then." Yuki stated.

"Well as I was explaining. Your mother was pregnant at the time of the attack. She gave birth to your brother that afternoon. The Fourth Hokage knew the only way to stop the demon and used that knowledge. He sealed the demon…" Hiashi continued only to be interrupted.

"What you can't kill it but you can seal it? That sounds too easy." Yuki stated.

"No it is not easy as it required two things. One the life of the Hokage and second, it required a newborn child." Hiashi said his head hung low.

Kushina burst into tears, crying out loud. "No… no… not Naruto-niisan…" Yuki commented as she shook her head and tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Yoshiko ran from her mother's bed side and started to hit Hiashi. "You hurt mommy!"

Hiashi knelt down and wrapped Yoshiko into a hug. "I am just telling you what happened. It hurts because she is not happy with what happened. The Fourth Hokage sealed the demon into your brother."

"The Fourth was a bad man! He hurt niisan!" Yoshiko yelled into Hiashi's robes as she continued to hit him and cried her little heart out.

Hiashi smiled warmly at the devotion the young Uzumaki had to her brother so soon after meeting him.

----------

Kakashi stood leaning against the entrance of a dango stand. Inside two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds sat and ate dango and drank tea.

"Yo!" Kakashi raised his voice to get the attention of Kurenai and Asuma. "Don't you two look chummy"

Kurenai looked away with a slight blush. "I was just going to get some dango for Anko. She asked me too." Kurenai responded in an angry tone.

"So what are you doing out of around town so early?" Asuma asked.

"I was meeting Sasuke, but something from out of town caught my eye." Kakashi hinted as he looked into the dango stand. Kurenai and Asuma both nodded.

Sasuke ran up wearing a cast. "Hey Kakashi your early. Why are you here? I hate sweets."

The three jonin turn to greet Sasuke. They all turned back to see the men in cloaks gone. Kurenai and Asuma both nodded and shunshined away. Sasuke wore a confused look upon his face. "What was that all about?"

"I am told Hiashi Hyuuga wants to see you." Kakashi deftly diverted Sasuke's question.

"Why? I have inclination towards his daughters and I don't want to see Naruto today." Sasuke stated bluntly.

"You mean you don't want to fight Naruto?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"No I have a broken arm. Why would I want to fight him in a weakened state?" Sasuke retorted.

"You would then be fighting on even ground. His arm was totally shattered, so the fight would be fair." Kakashi said jokingly as he knew Naruto's arm was soon to be fully healed by the Fox.

"So why does Hiashi Hyuuga want to see me?" Sasuke asked again more sternly.

"Maybe he wants to marry you off to his daughter Hanabi." Kakashi continued his game of duck and avoid the question.

"She is too young for me. I would prefer Hinata over Hanabi." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Ah, but she is already taken and even betrothed. And it isn't up to you, so she is off the list." Kakashi continued the banter.

"Why does Hiashi want to see me?" Sasuke asked very angrily.

"I know but I can't tell you." Kakashi sung out his answer. "You will have to find that out yourself."

Sasuke annoyed turned and headed to the Hyuuga compound.

------

"Ah Kurenai Yuuhi and Asuma Sarutobi, it has been a while." Itachi stated bluntly.

Kurenai and Asuma looked at each other. "If you know who we are then you must be from this village." Asuma stated.

Itachi took off his straw hat and set it on the ground. He started unbuttoning his cloak. "You are right I am from this village." Itachi responded.

"What are you doing here you bastard?" Asuma asked angrily.

"We are here to collect a friend he is wanted by our organization, Akatsuki." Itachi stated.

Kisame took off his hat and set it on the ground. "If we are doing introductions, Itachi, why should I be left out?" Kisame questioned.

"Kisame Hoshigaki, missing nin from the hidden mist village." Kurenai stated.

Kisame bows with a toothy grin. "My reputation precedes me. I am honored that you know who I am." Kisame states graciously.

"Watch yourself Kisame, they are not pushovers." Itachi warned Kisame.

Kisame swings his large sword at Kurenai and is blocked by Asuma and his trench knives. "That wasn't nice to attack a woman." Asuma said with a grin.

"Let's let the fighters figure out who is the best match." Kisame stated with a toothy grin.

Kurenai makes some hand signs and disappears. Itachi looks up as a tree wrapped around him and Kurenai appears just above him with a kunai in hand. "Such a simple genjutsu will not work on me." Itachi bluntly stated.

Kurenai appears within her own tree in the position that Itachi was in and he is now where she was. 'Counter genjutsu, this has to be the power of the sharingan. Have to break it or I am dead.' Kurenai bit her own lip. This drew blood and thus enabled her to break the genjutsu.

Itachi kicked Kurenai onto the river they were standing next to. "I am glad to see you know how to get out of your own genjutsu." Itachi praised Kurenai.

"Enough!" Kisame said just after receiving a cut to the face from Asuma from a chakra extension of his trench knives. "Water style: Water dragon jutsu." Kisame states as a water dragon forms but is quickly destroyed by a second water dragon.

"Wondered when you would get here Kakashi." Asuma stated smiling.

"Had to deliver Sasuke to the Hyuuga compound for a surprise." Kakashi stated.

"Kurenai close your eyes and don't open them there is only one way to fight the Sharingan and that is with a Sharingan." A second Kakashi stated standing by Kurenai.

"I see you used a shadow clone. Very inventive Kakashi, but it will not save you. You cannot match me in the use of the Sharingan. Mine was born to me and yours is just a pale imitation." Itachi said with a smirk.

"Why are you here? It's because of Naruto isn't it? Well you can't have him. I will lay down my life for him and I figure you only have a few more moments before this area is crawling with ANBU." Kakashi stated and revealed his own Sharingan while he closed his normal eye.

"Have you mastered all the secrets of the Sharingan Kakashi?" Itachi said.

"Kurenai get back!" Kakashi yelled as he pulled Kurenai away from Itachi just as Itachi exploded.

"I won't let you have him Itachi." Kakashi growled.

"It is not up to you Kakashi. But I will leave a parting gift. Tsukuyomi." Itachi stated as Kakashi fell to his knees a few moments later and started to sink into the river.

Gai appeared and picked up Kakashi. "Itachi you do not scare me as I know how to fight the Sharingan." Gai proclaimed.

"I see. Well be that as it may, Kisame we must go now I am tired from this little excursion and our target is not here." Itachi called back to Kisame.

"And just when I was starting to have some fun." Kisame stated happily. "Maybe next time we can play longer. Well, until next time." Kisame laughed as he disappeared.

"Should we go after him?" Asuma questioned Gai.

"No we need to get Kakashi looked at, Naruto will be okay as he is with Jiraiya." Gai replied as the jonin jumped towards the hospital.

----------

"Okay Hiashi I am here, what do you want? And no I don't want to wed your daughters." Sasuke stated bluntly.

"Sasuke-san, do not talk to me in that manner. I am your elder and a clan head. We are equals at least and I am of higher rank at best. I am sure your mother would not approve of how you are treating me." Hiashi scolded Sasuke.

"Whatever." Sasuke retorted.

"I am not sure you are ready for what I have for you. And I would never have a Hyuuga marry an Uchiha especially one of my daughters. Now follow me." Hiashi ordered and Sasuke complied.

Hiashi led Sasuke into the medical wing of the Hyuuga complex. They stopped in front of a door. "What is behind this door is a village secret and you will treat it as such or you will be punished severely." Hiashi warned Sasuke as he opened the door. Sasuke saw an empty be but the curtains between beds were drawn and there was someone behind the curtain in the second bed. Sasuke walked around the curtain only to fall to his knees with what he saw.

--------

Naruto sat by the fire with Hinata's head in his lap. "She looks like she is in pain." Naruto said sadly.

"I am not sure, I have fixed her seal so as to fix any problems with the merging of the seal. That is all I can do, I am sorry." Jiraiya quietly stated.

"**She will be fine. The pain is from Hime expanding her chakra system. It is painful but she will not be permanently hurt from this. I figure they should be better tomorrow morning. Weak but better."** Kyuubi consoled Naruto in his mind.

"Guess you both are right as there is nothing we can do but just wait." Naruto said to no one in particular.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a funny look. "What do you mean both of you?" Jiraiya questioned.

"You and Kyuubi, both of you are telling me to wait and see." Naruto said with a sad smile. "I just am impatient." Naruto admitted.

The next morning had Jiraiya giggling like a mad man. He was watching Hinata snuggling up to Naruto like a teddy bear. She had a smile a mile wide while she slept. Naruto didn't seem to mind the closeness of Hinata and actually appeared to be snuggling closer to her. "Hiashi is going to flip when he sees these pictures." Jiraiya said with a silly grin.

Jiraiya started to cook breakfast and thus caused Naruto and Hinata to wake up. "Ready to go find a Sannin?" Jiraiya asked as he handed both Naruto and Hinata plates of food.

Naruto and Hinata noticed that they were snuggled up together and both their faces turned bright red.

"You know you two are supposed to be married if you are going to be sleeping together." Jiraiya joked.

Hinata gasped and blushed even harder. Naruto blushed then turned really angry at Jiraiya. "We didn't do anything! We just kept each other warm…" Naruto trailed off as he shyly looked at Hinata. Naruto then got an angry look on his face. "Pervert…" Naruto said under his breath, Hinata giggled at Naruto's angrily defense of her honor.

After eating breakfast and cleaning up, the group headed out towards the next town.

As they walked along Naruto began to appear bored as his arm was still in a sling but almost fully mended.

"Hey Naruto…" Jiraiya called out to the boy.

"Yeah what is it, Pervy sage?" Naruto said angrily.

"Don't call me that!" Jiraiya said angrily and was instantly in front of Naruto. "I will have you know that I am one of the legendary Sannin and am going to teach you both while we are on our way to find Tsunade, another of the legendary Sannin."

"Jiraiya-sama, Sannin denote three so who is the other Sannin?" Hinata inquired.

"Well… Naruto sort of met him already. Orochimaru is the third known as Sannin." Jiraiya answered.

Naruto's whisker marks darkened and his killing intent flared. Hinata gently grabbed his arm as they continued. "Naruto… Calm down. It will do you no good to get angry." Hinata gently scolded Naruto.

Naruto sighed heavily. "I guess you're right Hinata-chan. So what are you going to teach us, Pervy sage?" Naruto smiled as his features returned to normal.

Jiraiya shook his head in frustration. 'I guess I am stuck with this until I get him to respect me. Just wish he would not call me the same thing his father did.' Jiraiya thought to himself. "You should respect me I was the sensei to the Fourth Hokage who was sensei to your uncle Kakashi." Jiraiya explained.

"So you would know all of the Fourth's jutsu wouldn't you?" Naruto asked excited beyond all reason.

"Yes I do know most of his jutsu. But for me to teach you, you will have to call me sensei." Jiraiya stated bluntly.

Hinata stood and bowed. "Hai, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Good girl." Jiraiya smiled and commented.

Naruto got a big foxy grin on his face and Jiraiya was not sure what he was up too. "Hai… Ero-sensei." Naruto said and started to snicker.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Jeez kid, why did you call me that?" He asked but not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"You wanted me to call you sensei, so I am. I am also referring to you as my perverted sensei as Kurenai-sensei would not be happy if I were to over look your peeping." Naruto said proud of himself.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes again knowing he would not win this argument. "Well from what I have learned from Hiashi and the others you both are supposed to link your demon chakra and something is supposed to happen. I will have you do that this evening in an open area outside of town after we check in to a hotel. But first I want to check on both of your ability to control chakra." Jiraiya said as he looked a small pond. "Cross the water."

Hinata and Naruto walked on to the water, Hinata seemed to have some problems at first as she quickly adjusted to her higher chakra reserves and was standing on the water's surface in no time. Naruto began to teach her to use the shadow-clone jutsu as she could no longer use regular clone because of her high chakra and lower control. "I see why you had problems Naruto-kun."

"Yah, well the Kyuubi screwed with my control but also helped by giving me a large chakra capacity." Naruto exclaimed.

After checking into a hotel Jiraiya took Naruto and Hinata out into the forest. "Okay kids I need you to pull out your demonic chakra and connect them." Jiraiya pointed to a clearing and two places close together that they could sit at. Jiraiya moved away as they began.

Naruto was able to surround himself first with red chakra. Hinata slowly bled lavender chakra and was finally cloaked in it like Naruto. Ears and a tail formed on each of them. The tails swayed back and forth for a few moments. The tails then wrapped around each other and appeared to merge.

(Dreamscape)

Naruto felt himself in the Kyuubi chamber standing in ankle deep water. The Kyuubi was at the bars of his cage with a worried look on his face. 'Worried? Why would he be worried?' Naruto thought to himself.

"**Because kit I am worried about my mate and if she will survive the merging. Your mate may not be ready for the power that will be coursing through her. It might destroy her. Please change this landscape and you can change the seal however you want I must see Hime!" **The Kyuubi nearly pleaded.

A door to the right opened for Naruto showing a field of flowers and a sleeping but pained Hinata lay near a castle. Naruto entered the door. Naruto turned and saw he was leaving his own dark castle a cage appeared near where the gates would be located in the castle. A door opened inside the cage and a large red furred fox walked inside the cage towards the white castle. The cage lengthened as it approached the castle. Naruto ran to Hinata and knelt down.

Naruto gently picked up Hinata's head and rested her head on his lap. "Please be okay Hinata-chan. I couldn't stand to be without you." Naruto whispered as Hinata moved restlessly in his gentle grasp.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whimpered out.

"I'm here Hinata-chan, I'm here." Naruto stated in an effort to comfort the girl he had come to love. Naruto looked up to see that the cage had extended to the gates of the white castle. Naruto watched as the Kyuubi howled and roared in an effort get the attention of Hime as she also howled but it was a howl of pain excruciating pain.

Hinata eyes fluttered open as pain showed deeply in her lavender eyes. "Naruto-kun?"

"I'm here Hinata-chan, I won't leave you until this is over. Kyuubi is here for Hime too. We are here for our girls." Naruto said with a sad smile which Hinata returned. Hinata reached up and touched Naruto's face only to be racked by intense pain again. She screamed as Hime howled.

"**Only a little more Hime and you will be fine. Kit, soothe your mate now or we all die!" Kyuubi warned. **

Naruto not knowing what to do leaned down and kissed Hinata gently on the lips in an attempt to ease her pain and distract her. Hinata's eyes shot open. She looked into worried blue seas, but did not resist as she had wanted this for a long time. She then felt a surge of exhilaration almost like a spark move between Naruto and her. Her arms moved and encircled Naruto as she deepened the kiss. Naruto felt the exhilaration move through him as he kissed Hinata, he deepened the kiss as she did, not wanting it to end. Naruto noticed as the howling lessened. 'I will do whatever I need to do to ease your pain Hinata-chan.' Naruto thought as they continued to kiss. Their breathing through their noses became harder and labored as the kiss continued.

When the kiss finally broke Hinata winced in pain but looked lovingly into Naruto's eyes. "Did you mean that? The kiss, did you mean it?" Hinata nearly begged for an answer.

Naruto nodded and kissed her again on the lips. "I mean every kiss I give you Hinata-chan." Naruto whispered as he broke the kiss to speak, only to recapture her lips before she could respond.

"**Thank you, kit, for helping them both out." **The Kyuubi stated from his cage near the gate.

Naruto broke the kiss long enough to respond to the fox. "Shut up you damn fox, I'm busy here easing my girlfriend's pain and I want us to enjoy it not listen to a fox complain. If you continue to yap I will send you back to your cage." Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he heard a whine and a yelp from the fox. "Now where were we?" Naruto asked with a sly grin on his face. "Oh yes…"

"Oh Naruto-kun…" Hinata said as he shifted to her side and returned to lovingly ministering to her lips.

(Outside the mindscape)

Jiraiya watched in morbid fascination as the two demon container's chakra merged at the tail, suddenly both were pulled together and slammed into each other they appeared to wrap their arms around each other as their heads lay on each other's shoulders. Then there was a blinding light as they both spun in the air while they continued to embrace each other. "Damn lucky kid." Jiraiya cursed.

The two slowly drifted to the ground and lay there encased in their respective chakras. This continued as Jiraiya could swear they both had smiles on their faces, but Hinata's appeared to also hold pain. Jiraiya created a shadow clone and sent it off to check the area for any visitors that might happen upon the three of them.

After about ten minutes the chakra cloaks dissipated. Jiraiya noted that there continued to be chakra coursing between the two at their seals and Hinata's expression was now one of happiness or bliss rather than pain. 'This is going to make a great book. Icha-icha kitsune. Sounds like a good title to me. Young lovers who were demon fox hanyou. Damn I am good at coming up with storylines.' Jiraiya began writing as his clone made another round of patrols to make sure that they were alone.

Both children sighed as Jiraiya noticed the chakra between them die down. Naruto and Hinata looked deeply into each other's eyes and smiled contently. "So what happened?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto released Hinata who frowned until Naruto stood and offered a hand in helping her stand. "How do you feel Hinata-hime?"

Hinata shakily stood and fell into Naruto's waiting arms. "A little shaky, like my insides were torn apart and then put back together."

"Figures, your chakra network was more than likely torn to shreds and then rebuilt using the demon, I mean celestial chakra." Jiraiya commented.

The group slowly made their way back to the inn and slept the night away. Jiraiya had this lingering feeling that something was going to happen and he didn't like it.

----------------

Sorry for the delay in an update it just took time to get this chapter out and edited, thanks to Chewee Cookies again for a great edit job. I was out of it so much I misspelled Jiraiya thirty times and he caught everyone of them. Silly author. I hope you enjoyed the chapter I am working several projects right now and believe that some willl like them. I am also working on a Naruto/Kin/Hinata fic for one of my fans. It is going fairly well should have a sample to my betas soon. Well until next chapter and we get to actually see Itachi and Kisame.


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